The  Mormons 


Mr 

Samuel  E  Wish  ard,D.D 


BV 

2627 

.W5 


£-aVTi-R;Af<  CHURCH, U.S.A, 


9  ,/o  :cys^, 

^  PRINCETON,  N.  J.  *^ 

Presented   b)rSoc7\'CO,o\C>\orri£/ Vi^        S\Or 


THE    MORMONS 


SAMUEL   E.  WISHARD,  D.D. 

SYNODICAL   MISSIONARY   FOR   UTAH 


Literature  Department 

Presbyterian  Home  Missions 

156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City 

1904 


Copyright,  1904,  by 

The  Board  of  Home  Missions 

OF  THE  Presbyterian  Church 

IN  the  U.  S.  a. 


THE   TROW   PRESS,    NEW    YORK 


FOREWORD 

To  know  the  history  of  our  Church  in  our 
land  is  to  be  interested  in  Home  Missions. 

Our  Board  of  Home  Missions  and  the 
Woman's  Board  of  Home  Missions  are  there- 
fore placing  before  our  young  people — for 
general  reading  or  for  use  in  study  classes — 
a  series  of  sketches  which  trace  the  planting 
and  progress  of  gospel  truth  among  our  In- 
dians, Mexicans,  Mormons,  Mountaineers  of 
the  South,  Alaskans,  and  the  dwellers  in 
Porto  Rico  and  Cuba.  A  seventh  book  in 
this  series  introduces  its  readers  to  seven 
typical  home  mission  heroes. 

This  little  library  of  seven  volumes,  writ- 
ten by  those  who  know  the  work,  is  warmly 
commended  for  accuracy  and  attractiveness. 


AUTHOR^S   PREFATORY   NOTE 

I  HAVE  been  asked  to  write  a  brief  history 
of  our  home  mission  work  in  Utah.  It  can 
not  be  done,  however.  The  shades  of  light 
and  gloom  can  not  be  written.  The  solici- 
tudes, the  prayers  and  heart  throbs  that  have 
been  wrought  into  these  years  of  toil  by  mis- 
sion teachers  and  ministers  can  not  be  traced. 
The  joy  that  has  come  to  the  laborers  as 
precious  souls  have  been  gathered  and  lives 
changed  is  known  only  to  those  whose  pray- 
ers have  been  answered.  The  gray  dawn  of 
the  coming  day  in  Utah  brings  with  it  abun- 
dant regard  for  all  the  days  of  anxious  bur- 
den bearing. 

The  benediction  of  service  is  enough.  We 
prayerfully  and  patiently  wait  for  the  full 
noon. 

S.    E.    WiSHARD. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  Looking  Back— Virgin  Utah— Fre- 
mont AND  Whitm,\n — A  Cloud  in  the 
East— The  Mormon  Hegira— Isolation 
— Mountain  Meadows  Massacre     .    .      1 

II.  The  First  Gospel  Note— Prayer  on  the 
Mount — A  Presbyterlan  Church  Born 
IN  Utah— The  Irate  Prophet— The 
Work  Goes  on— Work  at  Evanston.     .      9 

III.  An  Advance— The  Rev.  Josiah  Welch- 
Church  Organized  —  Conflict  with 
Government — Second  Pastor — Third 
Pastor— Salt  Lake  Collegiate  Insti- 
tute—Prof. John  M.  Coyner— His  Suc- 
cessors—Women OF  Pennsylvania.     .     .     17 

IV.  Presbytery  Organized  — A  Surprised 
People — Wasatch  Academy — Another 
Church  —  Inquirers  —  Progress  —  The 
Staying  Preacher — Model  School — 
Americ.\n  Fork — Growth — The  Alter- 
native  27 

V.  Entering  Ogden — Forward  Movement — 
Short  Pastorates — Preaching  to  a  Pro- 
cession— New  Church  Home — City  De- 
livered— Present  Pastorate — One-Man 
Rule  in  Brigh.vm — Order  of  Enoch — 
Determined  Missionary — His  Reception 
— The  Bishop  Fertilizing — Dr.  Rankin 
— ^Kingdom  Coming 43 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VI.  Silver  Rimmed  Valley — Discovering  a 
IsIan — ^The  Seed — A  Visit — Possessing 
THE  Land — Hyrum  Mission — Home  in 
A  Garret — Richmond — No  Resumption 
— Scattered  Sheep — ^Teacher  Redupli- 
cates Herself — Mendon  and  Wells- 
ville 55 

VII.  Across  the  Line — A  Log  Cabin — "Must 

Obey  in  All  Things" — Missionary  All- 
over-ness  —  Printer's  Ink  —  Another 
Church — Utilizing  the  Kitchen— Mont- 
peuer — ^The  Germ  Developed — The 
Refuge — Under  a  Dirt  Roof — Rowdy- 
ism— Progress — ^The  Woman  of  Sanluiia 
Through  Tribulation — Courage — Some 
Discoveries 67 

VIII.  First  Aw.\kening— A   Spe.\king    Monu- 

ment— Tired  of  Husks — Holding  the 
Fort — ^The  Memorial — "Eternal  Vigi- 
lance"— A  Line  of  Light — ^The  Old 
Flag — ^In  the  Pulpit — First  Sermon 
Preached — Back  to  the  Hut  ....  75 
IX.  Nephi — Flower  and  Fruit — Hunting- 
ton Chapel — First  Minister — E.\rly 
Teachers — An  English  Lady — Mormon 
Missionary  Methods  —  Short  Pastor- 
ates— Payson — Pennsylvania's  Contri- 
butions— Solid  and  Sold — An  Extempo- 
rized Corner  —  Search  Rewarded  — 
Church  Organized  —  Able  Teachers 
—  Prejudice  Allayed  —  Social  Life 
Changed 85 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

X.  A  New  Message — Small  Audience — An 
Attraction — Sp^vnish  Fork — The  Car- 
penter Shop — Saloons  Closed — Mission 
at  Kaysville  — Depleted  Treasury  .  .  95 
XI.  A  Tragedy — Baptism  for  the  Dead — ^A 
Light -House — Seed-Sowing — A  Saved 
One — Worth  of  a  Soul — ^Toquerville — 
Cedar  City — Parowan — Evangelistic 
Effort— Changing — Beginning  to  Think 
— Coming  Triumph 104 

XII.  A  Rod  of  Iron — Abuse  of  E.\rly  Mission- 
aries— Influence  of  Our  Schools — 
Progressfv^e  Pupils — Westminster  Col- 
lege— From  the  Hay  Loft — Mormon 
Testimony  at  Washington — Dawning 
of  a  New  Light — Time  for  Reinforce- 
ment   116 


k. 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 


St.  George,  Utah Frontispiece 

OPPOSITE 
PAGE 

Rev.  Josiah  Welch 17 


Prof.  John  M.  Coyner,  Ph.D 26 

Manti  Presbyterian  Chapel  School  House    .     .  49 

Chapel  School  House  at  Gunnison     ....  82 

Rev.  R.  G.  McNiece,  D.D 116 


THE   MORMONS 


CHAPTER    I 

Looking  Back — Virgin  Utah — Fremont  and 
Whitman — A  Cloud  in  the  East — ^The  Mor- 
mon Hegira — Isolation — Mountain  Meadows 
Massacre. 

One  looks  back  through  the  years  when 
Utah  lay  undisturbed  by  the  fretting,  push- 
ing life  of  to-day.  Her  mountains  were 
sleeping  in  quiet.  Her  valleys,  decked  in 
their  floral  robes,  were  smiling  back  to  the 
heavens.  The  wealth  of  soil  and  mine  were 
untouched  because  unknown.  The  Middle 
West  was  then  the  Far  West.  Our  nation 
was  clinging  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  and 
slowly  creeping  toward  the  sunset.  Steam 
and  electric  power  were  waiting  the  coming 
Fulton  and  Morse. 

Utah  was  here,  virgin,  untouched.  God 
was  piling  his  treasures  of  snow  on  these 
lofty  summits  and  in  the  deep  canyons.  He 
had  cleft  these  mountains  with  the  living 
streams  of  water,  that  like  cords  of  silver 
1 


2  THE    MORMONS 

bound  their  heights  to  the  lakes  below.  He 
was  tending  the  flowers  of  mountain  and  val- 
ley, making  life  possible  for  the  Red  Man 
and  his  prey.  God  was  here.  These  vast 
solitudes  were  in  his  keeping.  He  knew  what 
was  coming,  and  was  "making  everything 
beautiful  in  its  time."  The  starlit  nights 
came  and  went  as  the  years  swung  by.  There 
were  no  such  stars  as  those  that  gleamed  in 
the  Utah  sky.  The  altitude  and  clear  at- 
mosphere gave  Utah  nights  a  singular  glory 
in  those  far-away  times.  Later  came  the 
trappers  and  hunters  to  disturb  the  Indian's 
quiet  possession.  They  were  a  sort  of  go- 
between-white-men  in  Indian  garb,  with  Ind- 
ian life  and  habit.  By  their  superior  cun- 
ning they  managed  to  keep  the  peace,  and 
by  their  art  in  traffic  enriched  themselves. 
The  untutored  savages  were  no  match  for  the 
shrewd  manoeuvres  of  the  trading  trappers. 

In  the  forties  two  important  events  oc- 
curred— important  for  our  country  and  for 
Utah.  The  Government  employed  Captain 
John  Charles  Fremont  to  explore  the  terri- 
tory west  of  the  Missouri  River  to  the  Pa- 
cific. He  opened  the  way  into  Utah,  and 
spent  some  time  investigating  the  region  of 
the  Great  Salt  Lake.  He  passed  on  thence 
over  the  Sierras,  reaching  the  coast  near  the 
mouth    of    the    Columbia    River.      He    had 


THE    MORMONS  3 

pierced  the  continent^  so  that  light  must  in- 
evitably break  through.  The  other  event  was 
the  heroic  achievement  of  Dr.  Marcus  Whit- 
man, by  which  his  colonization  scheme  se- 
cured to  our  national  domain  the  northwest- 
ern territory  of  Oregon  and  Washington. 

In  the  mean  time  a  storm  cloud  had  been 
gathering  in  the  East.  It  had  quietly  moved 
out  from  New  York  State  to  Kirtland,  Ohio. 
Thence  it  passed  on  to  Missouri  in  the  form 
of  an  organized  hierarchy  whose  head 
claimed  authority  over  all  men  and  all  civil 
government.  The  antagonism  of  this  ecclesi- 
astical organization,  the  Mormon  Church,  re- 
sulted in  its  departure  from  the  State,  and  its 
settlement  at  Nauvoo,  Illinois.  Here  were  re- 
peated again  the  experiences  passed  through 
in  Missouri.  This  led  the  IMormon  people  to 
seek  a  home  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States.  In  the  accomplishment  of 
this  feat  Brigham  Young  led  a  few  thousand 
Mormons  into  this  beautiful  region,  then  in 
the  domain  of  Mexico,  but  destined  on  the 
close  of  the  Mexican  War  to  be  a  part  of 
United  States  territory. 

The  Mormon  Hegira  landed  that  ecclesi- 
astical power  in  conditions  most  favorable 
for  the  genius  of  its  development.  Here  was 
a  region  easily  made  fruitful  by  a  people 
without  resources.     Here  was  isolation  from 


4  THE    MORMONS 

the  claims  of  government,  and  from  the  de- 
mands of  better  social  and  religious  condi- 
tions. The  man  of  iron  will,  of  organizing 
power,  with  boundless  ambition  for  himself, 
fired  by  a  consuming  and  subtle  selfishness, 
and  micurbed  covetousness,  found  himself  in 
most  favorable  conditions  to  achieve  all  that 
lie  could  desire.  Removed  from  the  interfer- 
ence of  the  outside  world,  from  every  touch 
of  truth  and  righteousness,  Brigham  Young 
had  time  to  lay  his  plans  with  none  to  contra- 
dict or  criticise.  There  was  ample  time  to 
crystallize  his  system  of  self-aggrandize- 
ment and  subjugation  of  the  people.  He  lost 
no  time  in  riveting  the  chains  that  his  prede- 
cessor had  forged.  The  superstitious  and 
fanatical  people  willingly  surrendered  them- 
selves to  his  power.  They  even  vied  with 
each  other  in  their  effort  to  make  that  sur- 
render the  most  abject  possible. 

There  is  not  space  to  trace  the  servile 
yielding  of  the  people,  through  all  the  down- 
ward steps  which  could  make  possible  the 
iniquities  of  that  period,  culminating  finally 
in  the  crime  of  the  Mountain  Meadows  Mas- 
sacre in  1857.  The  doctrines  of  the  Mormon 
Church  made  possible  that  atrocious  crime, 
and  led  up  to  it.  Joseph  Smith  taught  that 
"God  himself  was  once  as  we  are  now,  and 
is    an   exalted    man,   and   sits    enthroned    in 


THE    MORMONS  5 

yonder  heavens."  *  Brigham  Young  was 
even  a  little  more  specific,  and  taught  that 

"He  (Adam)  is  our  father  and  our  God, 
and  the  only  God  with  whom  we  have  to  do. 
.  .  .  When  the  Virgin  Mary  conceived  the 
child  Jesus,  the  father  (Adam)  had  begotten 
him  in  his  own  likeness.  He  was  not  begot- 
ten by  the  Holy  Ghost."  f 

Apostle  Parley  Pratt  taught,  and  it  is  still 
published  and  sent  forth  to  the  world,  that 

"There  are  several  subtle  fluids,  as  animal 
magnetism,  electricity,  and  the  Holy  Spirit." 

These  blasphemous  doctrines  concerning 
God  prepared  the  way  for  their  unscriptural 
doctrines  of  salvation  by  works,  baptism  for 
the  dead,  pre-existence  of  spirits,  the  domi- 
nation of  the  priesthood  over  all  civil  govern- 
ments, and  their  control  of  the  people  in  all 
things  temporal  and  spiritual;  because  the 
priesthood  "by  possessing  part  of  God's 
power,  are  in  reality  part  of  God."  J 

The  pretended  revelations  of  Joseph  Smith 
sent  forth  the  spawn  of  heathen  polytheism, 
as  taught  in  his  preaching  and  in  the  "Mil- 
lennial Star,"  § 

"That  Adam  fell,  but  his   fall  became  a 


*  Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  6. 
t  Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  I.,  p.  50. 
i  New  Witness  for  God,  p.  187. 
§  Vol.  XV..  p.  801. 


6  THE    MORMONS 

matter  of  necessity  that  he  might  be  the 
father  of  an  innumerable  race  of  beings  who 
would  be  capable  of  becoming  Gods." 

As  the  Mormon  God,  Adam  was  the  first 
sinner,  and  a  simier  of  necessity,  personal 
responsibility  was  lifted  from  the  human  race. 
There  was  no  place  left  in  Mormon  experi- 
ence for  the  consciousness  of  sin.  Hence  the 
first  ten  years  of  their  history  in  Utah,  from 
1847  to  1857,  developed  alarming  conditions. 
In  the  latter  part  of  that  period,  in  1856  and 
1857,  fierce  scenes  of  fanaticism  broke  out 
among  the  people.  That  was  called  the  time 
of  the  "Reformation,"  when  great  multitudes 
of  the  people  were  rebaptized,  and  some  of 
them  asked  to  be  blood-atoned — that  is,  to 
have  their  blood  shed  as  the  only  means  of 
saving  their  souls.  This  doctrine  had  been 
preached  and  practised  prior  to  this  time. 
It  was  taught  that  apostasy  from  the  Mormon 
Church  was  a  sin  so  heinous  that  pardon 
could  be  obtained  only  by  shedding  the  blood 
of  the  person — that  is,  taking  the  life  of  the 
sinner.* 

It  was  during  this  period,  in  September, 
1857,  that  a  large  emigrating  party  was  pass- 
ing through  Utah  to  California.  Messengers 
were  sent  out  to  the  Mormon  people  prohib- 

*  See  Journal  of  Discourses,  Vol.  IV.,  pp.  53  and 
54. 


THE    MORMONS  7 

iting  them  from  selling  provisions  to  the  emi- 
grants. The  emigrants  moved  on  toward 
southern  Utah^  encamping  at  what  was  known 
as  "The  Mountain  Meadows."  A  company 
of  Mormons,  led  by  Bishop  John  D.  Lee, 
Colonel  DamC;,  and  others,  attacked  and 
murdered  one  hundred  and  twenty  men, 
women,  and  children,  on  the  fifteenth  of  Sep- 
tember, 1857.  Brigham  Young  was  gov- 
ernor at  the  time.  For  twenty  years  the 
crime  went  unpunished.  The  United  States 
Government  finally  secured  the  conviction 
and  execution  of  Bishop  Lee  in  1877.  Be- 
fore he  was  executed  he  made  a  full  confes- 
sion of  his  crime,  in  which  he  said: 

*'I  know  all  were  acting  under  orders  and 
by  the  command  of  the  Church  leaders."  * 

Lee  also  says  he  reported  the  butchery  to 
Governor  Brigham  Young,  as  he  had  been 
directed.  The  only  punishment  he  received 
was  the  gift  of  several  additional  wives,  and 
the  position  of  probate  judge.  He  further 
stated  in  his  confessions,  before  his  execu- 
tion: 

"I  believed  then,  as  I  do  now,  that  it  was 
the  will  of  every  true  Mormon  in  Utah  that 
the  enemies  of  the  Church  should  be  killed  as 
fast   as   possible,   and   that  .  .  .  the   killing 

*  See  Lee's  Confessions,  p.  213. 


8  THE    MORMONS 

them  would  be  keeping  our  oatlis  and  aveng- 
ing the  blood  of  the  prophets."  * 

With  this  brief  statement  of  conditions  in 
Utah  at  that  time^  the  reader  will  understand 
how  important  it  was  that  the  Home  Mission 
Board  should  send  missionaries  to  the  people. 
A  gentleman  who  has  spent  his  life  here,  and 
was  finally  delivered  by  the  gospel  from  the 
thraldom  of  the  Mormon  system,  has  said: 

"If  the  Christian  missionaries  had  not 
come  to  us  with  the  Christian  school  and  the 
Church  of  Christ,  we  would  have  gone  into 
barbarism  in  the  next  forty  years." 

*  See  Lee's  Confessions,  p.  221. 


CHAPTER    II 

The  First  Gospel  Note — Prayer  on  the  Mount 
— ^A  Presbyterian  Church  Born  in  Utah — 
The  Irate  Prophet — ^The  Work  Goes  on — 
Work  at  Evanston. 

The  stirring  political  events  that  were  oc- 
cupying the  nation  from  1856,  culminating  in 
1861  in  four  years  of  unparalleled  civil  war,  ' 
gave  the  Mormon  hierarchy  further  oppor- 
tunity to  organize,  to  get  control  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  possession  of  the  Territory  of  Utah. 

It  should  be  put  on  record  that  the  man 
who  laid  the  deep  and  broad  foundations  of 
Home  Missions  for  our  Church  was  the  first 
Presbyterian*  minister  to  raise  his  voice  with 
the  gospel  message  before  a  Mormon  audi- 
ence in  Utah.  While  on  his  way  to  the  coast, 
in  those  perilous  days  in  1864,  Dr.  Henry 
Kendall  passed  through  Utah.  He  spent 
some  days  in  Salt  Lake  City  investigating 
with  his  keen  insight  the  conditions  prevalent, 
holding  conferences  with  some  of  the  United 

*  In  Januarv%  1864,  Rev.  Norman  McLeod,  a  Congre- 
gational minister,  had  commenced  religious  services  in 
Daft's  Hall,  in  the  city. 

9 


10  THE    MORMONS 

States  ofBcials.  He  was  introduced  to  Brig- 
ham  Young,  who  invited  him  to  preach  in  the 
Tabernacle. 

At  this  time  the  Mormon  prophets  were 
predicting  and  praying  for  the  downfall  of 
our  Government.  Hence  Brigham's  invita- 
tion to  Dr.  Kendall  had  in  it  the  taunt  of  the 
old  mockers  who  said  to  God's  captive  people, 

"  Sing  us  one  of  the  songs  of  Zion." 

Dr.  Kendall's  courage  was  equal  to  the 
occasion.  He  struck  the  gospel  note  that 
went  eclioing  through  these  mountains  until 
it  was  taken  up  in  full  chorus  by  our  Board 
of  Home  Missions. 

It  is  the  popular  belief  that  the  politeness 
of  Brigham,  in  his  mild  treatment  of  Dr. 
Kendall,  was  somewhat  due  to  certain  mili- 
tary aspects  up  at  Fort  Douglas.  However 
that  may  be.  Dr.  Kendall  had  made  some 
discoveries,  and  his  gospel  message  had  been 
heard  by  the  tabernacle  congregation.  He 
had  taken  in  the  situation,  and  that  was  some- 
thing gained. 

On  the  tenth  of  May,  1869,  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  was  completed  to  Ogden,  but 
no  organized  Presbyterian  work  had  been 
accomplished  up  to  this  time.  The  saloon 
had  planted  itself  and  opened  its  doors.    The 


THE    MORMONS  11 

billiard-hall,  the  dance-hall,  and  gambling- 
houses  had  located  in  all  the  towns  in  these 
western  territories.  It  is  stated  by  the  clerk 
of  the  Presbytery  of  Colorado  that 

"In  the  vast  territory  of  Dakota,  Montana, 
Idaho,  Utah,  Wyoming,  and  Arizona  there 
was  not  a  single  Presbyterian  organization 
at  this  time,  and  in  New  Mexico  but  one  of 
our  name." 

The  same  historian  informs  us  that  the 
Presbytery  of  Missouri  River  was  to  meet 
on  the  twenty-ninth  of  April,  1869^  at  Sioux 
City,  Iowa.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day 
Thomas  Cleland,  Jr.,  J.  C.  Elliott,  and 
Sheldon  Jackson,  of  the  Presbytery,  were 
prompted  to  ascend  the  high  bluffs  to  the 
north  of  the  city  and  look  abroad  over  the 
land.  Their  hearts  were  saddened  and  their 
spirits  were  stirred  within  them  by  the 
thought  that  for  two  thousand  miles  onward 
there  was  not  a  single  Presbyterian  church. 
Before  they  left  the  spot  earnest  prayer  was 
made  for  those  destitute  regions  beyond.  The 
result  of  that  little  meeting  on  the  Mount  of 
God  was  that  the  three  Presbyteries  of  the 
Synod  of  Iowa  appointed  the  Rev.  Sheldon 
Jackson  Superintendent  of  Home  Missions 
for  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Dakota,  INIontana,  Wy- 
oming, and  Utah. 

When  the  Home   Mission   Board  came  to 


12  THE    MORMONS 

the  rescue  a  year  later,  Iowa  was  dropped 
from  the  field,  and  Colorado  and  New  Mex- 
ico were  added,  and  later  still  Arizona  was 
included. 

With  the  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific 
road  to  Ogden,  the  intrepid  Jackson  entered 
Utah,  and  Dr.  Kendall's  anticipation  was  to 
be  realized.  We  find  the  missionary  at 
Corinne  in  June,  1869,  a  month  after  the 
first  engine  came. 

Corinne  is  an  American  to^vn,  twenty-five 
miles  northwest  of  Ogden,  on  the  Central  Pa- 
cific Railroad.  It  is  at  the  head  of  Great 
Salt  Lake,  at  the  point  where  the  Bear  River 
enters  the  lake.  It  had  promise  of  large 
development,  being  at  the  terminus  of  all  the 
freighting  lines  into  Idaho  and  ]Montana.  It 
was  especially  obnoxious  to  Brigham  Young, 
because  it  was  built  and  owned  by  non-Mor- 
mons, and  at  that  time  had  a  large  and  pros- 
perous business.  Dr.  Jackson  secured  the 
assistance  of  the  Rev.  Melancthan  Hughes 
at  this  point  for  three  months,  and  began 
regular  services  on  the  thirteenth  of  June, 
1869.  Mr.  Hughes  did  not  remain  through 
the  winter.  The  infant  congregation  had 
neither  habitation  nor  sliepherd,  until  the 
spring-time  brought  the  Rev.  Mr.  Bayliss. 
He  came  to  the  work  April  tenth,  1870,  with 
Superintendent    Jackson.      The    thawing-out 


THE    MORMONS  IS 

process  took  place^  and  on  the  fourteenth  of 
July,  1870,  the  church  was  organized,  and 
one  elder  elected.  This  was  the  first  Pres- 
b3'^terian  Church  organized  in  Utah.  The 
indignation  of  the  Prophet  Brigham  was 
aroused  against  the  whole  community.  The 
erection  of  a  large  church  building  and  the 
music  of  a  church-bell  still  further  disturbed 
the  Prophet. '  A  gentleman  who  spent  years 
at  Corinne  and  in  that  vicinity  writes: 

"The  Gentile  town  of  Corinne  was  an  eye- 
sore to  Brigham  Young,  and  he  assiduously 
plotted  to  destroy  it.  He  had  his  son  John, 
then  president  of  the  Utah  Northern  Rail- 
road, build  the  narrow-gauge  road  from 
Logan  to  Franklin,  Idaho,  in  order  to  inter- 
cept the  travel  northward  at  that  point.  He 
then  formally  cursed  the  town,  its  business 
and  people,  from  the  rear  platform  of  his 
private  car,  and  had  the  depot,  track,  and 
bridge  across  the  Bear  River  removed  to 
Franklin,  Idaho. 

"This  not  succeeding,  the  curse  not  being 
executed  by  Providence,  he  had  the  Utah 
Northern  sold  to  the  Union  Pacific,  and  the 
junction  of  that  with  the  Central  Pacific  re- 
moved to  Ogden,  and  thus  Corinne  was  left 
a  mere  way  station  on  the  Central  Pacific. 
Still  the  people  clung  to  their  homes,  though 
doing  business  at  Franklin  and  Ogden,     In 


14  THE    MORMONS 

the  fall  of  1875  Brigham  had  the  Bannock 
and  Shoshone  Indians,  to  the  number  of  three 
thousand,  come  down  from  Ross  Fork 
Agency,  all  armed  and  painted  for  war. 
They  camped  near  the  town,  threatening  all 
the  non-Mormon  inhabitants  of  Bear  River 
Valley.  General  Phil  Sheridan  was  then  in 
command  at  Cheyenne,  and  ordered  all  the 
troops  up  from  Fort  Douglas  at  Salt  Lake, 
where  for  three  days  we  had  them  camped 
between  us  and  the  Indians.  Brigham  at 
length  came  up  and  made  a  lengthy  talk  to 
the  Indians,  telling  them  the  Great  Spirit 
had  not  yet  spoken  to  him,  and  to  return  to 
the  agency  until  he  had  use  for  them  as  'The 
Battle-Axes  of  the  Lord.'  " 

It  is  stated  that  at  this  time  the  doctrine 
of  "Blood  Atonement,"  which  has  been  ex- 
plained, was  openly  preached,  and  cases  were 
constantly  reported  of  the  execution  of  the 
doctrine  upon  apostates. 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  these 
first  years  of  home  missions  at  Corinne, 
though  a  non-Mormon  town,  were  full  of  trial. 
The  work  was  carried  on  in  the  face  of  seri- 
ous apprehension  and  great  difficulties. 

In  May,  1872,  the  Rev.  L.  B.  Crittenden 
took  the  work  at  this  pioneer  post  for  one 
year;  then  lOllowed  a  period  of  vacancy  until 
August,  1874.     At  that  time  the  Rev.  S.  L. 


THE    MORMONS  16 

Gillespie,  a  returned  missionary  from  Africa, 
with  his  family,  entered  upon  the  work  in 
this  difficult  field.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
physical  and  moral  courage,  having  served  as 
lieutenant  in  Company  A,  Fifth  Ohio  Cav- 
alry, during  the  Civil  War,  and  having  ac- 
quitted himself  honorably  in  more  than  fifty 
skirmishes  and  battles.  After  peace  had 
been  concluded  he  took  his  seminary  course, 
and  for  a  time  did  missionary  work  in  Africa. 
He  was  made  of  the  stuff  to  take  the  work  at 
Corinne,  never  having  turned  his  back  upon 
any  foe.  For  four  years  he  resided  on  the 
field,  and  after  his  removal  to  Brigham  City, 
five  miles  away,  he  continued  to  supply  at 
Corinne  until  October  first,  1895,  giving  a  lit- 
tle more  than  twenty-one  years  to  his  work. 

The  house  of  worship  at  Corinne  was  de- 
stroyed a  few  years  ago  by  a  wind  storm,  and 
the  town  itself  has  suffered  a  heavy  deple- 
tion from  various  causes.  Dr.  Rankin,  how- 
ever, Mr.  Gillespie's  successor,  is  giving  the 
few  remaining  members  one  service  a  week, 
while  carrying  on  the  work  at  Brigham  City. 

In  the  spring  of  1871  Dr.  Jackson  visited 
Evanston,  Wyoming,  and  canvassed  the  town. 
He  held  a  service  in  a  hall  over  a  saloon. 
In  July  he  organized  a  church.  A  house  of 
worship  v/as  erected  and  dedicated  April 
twenty-eighth,  1872.    The  Rev.  F.  L.  Arnold 


16  THE    MORMONS 

supplied  the  church  monthly  during  1871, 
while  preaching  at  Laramie,  more  than  four 
hundred  miles  distant.  Mr.  Arnold  settled 
at  Evanston  later,  and  served  the  church  for 
ten  or  twelve  years,  until  he  came  to  the 
Westminster  Church  in  Salt  Lake  City. 


Rev.  Josiah  Welch 


CHAPTER    III 

An  Advance — The  Rev.  Josiah  Welch — Church 
Organized  —  Conflict  with  Government  — 
Second  Pastor — Third  Pastor — Salt  Lake 
Collegiate  Institute — Prof.  John  M.  Coy- 
NER  —  His  Successors — Women  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

The  Home  Mission  Board  proposed  to 
push  on  into  Salt  Lake  City.  The  work  at 
Corinne,  among  the  non-Mormons,  was  only 
the  beginning.  It  was  to  be  followed  by  a 
direct  effort  in  the  headquarters  of  Mormon- 
ism.  Since  the  visit  of  Dr.  Kendall  in  1864, 
the  reunion  of  the  two  branches  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  had  taken  place.  Dr.  Ken- 
dall had  been  re-enforced  in  his  work  by  the 
coming  of  Dr.  Dickson  into  the  secretaryship. 
The  united  church  was  now  in  a  position  to 
take  an  advance  step.  Dr.  Dickson  visited 
Utah,  and  most  heartily  joined  Dr.  Kendall 
in  the  purpose  to  plant  our  Church  in  Salt 
Lake  City. 

Sheldon  Jackson  was  instructed  to  inves-  - 
tigate  the  situation,  which  he  did  very  soon 
after  the  organization  of  the  work  at  Corinne. 
17 


18  THE    MORMONS 

He  saw  that  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance 
that  a  minister  should  enter  the  city  at  once, 
and  come  prepared  to  stay. 

It  is  of  divine  wisdom,  that  when  a  work 
is  to  be  done,  God  always  has  a  man  prepared 
for  it.  The  clock  of  time  struck  the  hour, 
and  the  Rev.  Josiah  Welch  answered  to  the 
call  of  Providence.  He  had  recently  grad- 
uated at  the  Theological  Seminary,  and  had 
been  commissioned  by  the  Board  of  Home 
Missions  to  take  work  in  Montana.  But  the 
Synodical  Missionary  stepped  across  his  path, 
and  onf routed  him  with  the  claims  of  the 
people  of  Utah,  emphasizing  his  plea  with 
a  revelation  (non-Mormon)  to  the  young 
preacher  of  the  deep  spiritual  darkness  that 
had  settled  down  upon  Salt  Lake  City,  like 
the  pall  of  an  unbroken  night.  It  would  have 
been  easy,  and  no  doubt  agreeable,  for  Mr. 
Welch  to  have  pushed  on  into  Montana,  and 
to  have  taken  work  among  American  people 
and  American  homes,  as  many  of  our  young 
men  insist  on  doing  to-day.  Fortunately  for 
our  Church,  and  for  Utah,  he  was  made  of 
different  stuff.  He  saw  the  situation,  heard 
the  call  of  God,  and  like  the  loyal  old  prophet 
of  God  said: 

"Here  am  I,  send  me." 

Mr.  Welch  had  the  wisdom  to  see  the  op- 
portunity, and  to  interpret  it  as  the  voice  of 


THE    MORMONS  19 

God.  He  obeyed  that  voice,  though  it  re- 
mained for  those  of  us  coming  after  him  to 
realize  the  heroism  of  his  decision  and  its 
value  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 

On  the  first  of  October,  1871,  Mr.  Welch  - 
began  his  work,  but  not  without  some  embar- 
rassment. Brigham  Young  had  closed  against 
Christian  work  every  hall,  every  place  of  pub- 
lic concourse.  Mr.  Welch  finally  rented  the 
hay  loft  of  a  livery  stable  at  an  expense  of  ' 
fifty  dollars  per  month.  A  church  of  eleven 
members  was  organized  (tradition  says  in 
the  skating  rink)  on  the  Sabbath,  November 
twelfth,  1871.  This  was  accomplished  by 
Mr.  Welch,  Sheldon  Jackson,  and  Dr.  George 
S.  Boardman,  who  was  providentially  present. 

The  work  was  carried  on  for  a  time  under 
the  embarrassment  which  the  conditions  pro- 
duced. The  want  of  a  suitable  place  of  wor- 
ship was  the  great  hindrance  to  progress.  >• 
The  few  members  of  the  church  were  not 
in  a  financial  condition  to  provide  themselves 
with  facilities  for  a  successful  prosecution 
of  their  work.  During  the  winter  the  skat-  , 
ing  rink  furnished  amusement  for  the  people 
during  the  week,  and  a  place  of  worship  for 
the  church  on  the  Sabbath. 

"The  ox  and  the  ass  yoked  together"  were 
not  adapted  to  secure  the  highest  achieve- 
ment.    It  was  therefore  resolved  by  the  con- 


20  THE    MORMONS 

gregation  to  abandon  the  place  of  amusement, 
and  seek  a  home  adapted  to  the  work  they 
had  undertaken.  An  appeal  was  made  to 
the  women  of  our  Church  in  the  East,  asking 
five  thousand  women  to  make  a  Christmas 
gift  of  five  dollars  each  for  the  purpose  of 
building  a  house  of  worship.  A  lot  was  se- 
cured on  the  corner  of  Second  East  and  Sec- 
ond South  streets  at  the  cost  of  eleven  thou- 
sand dollars.  Messrs.  J.  J.  Critchlow,  E.  H. 
Parsons,  and  M.  B.  Osborne  had  been  chosen 
as  elders,  and  set  apart  to  their  work.  With 
great  unanimity  and  zeal  the  little  company  of 
believers  took  up  the  burden  laid  upon  them. 
Mr.  Welch  was  a  leader  whom  it  was  easy  and 
safe  to  follow.  He  drew  the  people  to  him- 
self, stimulated  their  zeal,  encouraged  their 
faith,  and  exemplified  his  own  faith  by  his 
life. 

The  Sabbath  school  had  been  organized  a 
week  before  the  church  took  form,  and  now 
the  whole  machinery  of  the  church  was  in 
play.  In  due  time  a  house  of  worship  was 
secured  costing  $18,500  and  an  immense  out- 
lay of  toil  and  self-sacrifice,  all  of  which  was 
valuable  to  those  taking  part  in  it.  In  Octo- 
ber, IST'i,  the  church  building  was  dedicated. 
The  sermon  was  preached  by  Dr.  Scott,  of 
San  Francisco.  Pastor  Welch  toiled  labori- 
ously until  his  health  failed  in  1876,  when  he 


THE    MORMONS  21 

went  East  in  June.  He  found  no  relief,  and 
on  the  eighteenth  of  March,  1877,  he  entered 
into  rest,  while  at  his  mother's  home  in  Ohio. 
Mrs.  Welch  had  passed  to  her  reward  six 
months  before. 

The  Rev.  D.  J.  McMillan,  D.D.,  supplied 
the  church  for  a  time,  until  the  Rev.  R.  G. 
McNiece,  D.D.,  was  invited  to  the  field, 
which  he  reached  June  first,  1877.  Two 
months  later,  August  twenty-first,  he  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor  of  the  church.  Previous  to 
the  coming  of  the  railroad  and  the  non-Mor- 
mon people,  and  up  to  the  coming  of  the  mis- 
sionaries, there  was  not  a  paved  street  or 
sidewalk  in  the  city.  Salt  Lake  City  was  in 
the  rough,  materially,  educationally,  and  mor- 
ally. The  first  Congregational  pastor  had 
found  it  safe  not  to  return  to  the  city  after 
giving  his  testimony  in  Congress  as  to  condi- 
tions in  Utah.  The  superintendent  of  his 
Sabbath  school  was  assassinated,  and  the 
conflict  was  on  between  the  Mormon  hier- 
archy and  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  as  to  which  owned  this  Territory  and 
had  the  right  to  control  it. 

The  pastor  of  our  church  entered  upon  his 
labors  during  those  days  of  trial  and  verified 
Daniel's  prophecy — 

"The  streets  shall  be  built  again  and  the 
wall,  even  in  troublous  times." 


22  THE    MORMONS 

Times  of  trial  proved  to  be  times  of  prog- 
ress. Conflict  and  discipline  wrought  to- 
gether to  unify  and  energize  the  Christian 
people.  Our  Home  Mission  Board  had  set 
its  hand  to  the  work  and  with  persistent 
courage  furnished  the  sinews  of  war.  For 
ten  years  of  Dr.  McNiece's  pastorate  the 
conflict  was  waged.  The  Territory  was 
shaken  by  the  attempt  of  the  Mormon  priest- 
hood to  suppress  the  small  minority  of  Chris- 
tians who  stood  for  American  homes  and  in- 
stitutions. While  preaching  the  gospel  with 
no  uncertain  sound  the  pastor's  pen  was  busy 
in  defending  truth  and  righteousness  here, 
and  arousing  the  Church  in  the  East  to  the 
perils  confronting  the  nation. 

After  almost  twenty  years  of  arduous  toil, 
Dr.  McNiece  was  succeeded  in  the  pastorate 
by  Dr.  William  M.  Paden,  who  came  from 
the  Holland  Memorial  Church,  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  church  had  become  self-support- 
ing several  years  before  the  termination  of 
Dr.  McNiece's  pastorate. 

With  a  church  membership  of  nearly  five 
hundred,  and  a  Sabbath  school  of  five  hun- 
dred members,  the  congregation  has  entered 
upon  the  work  of  building  a  new  house  of 
worship  adequate  to  the  wants  of  the  grow- 
ing population.  Dr.  Paden,  by  his  versatile 
ability  and  abundant  labors,  has  enlarged  the 


THE    MORMONS  23 

spiritual  influence  and  power  of  the  First 
Church,  and  encouraged  his  co-laborers  and 
made  himself  felt  far  beyond  the  bounds  of 
our  own  State. 

To  trace  more  accurately  the  influence  of 
the  gospel  in  Salt  Lake  City,  we  must  go 
back  to  the  beginning  of  our  Christian  edu- 
cational work,  which  dates  almost  from  the 
beginning  of  the  work  of  our  Church.  At 
that  time  there  was  no  public  school  system 
in  Utah.  The  Mormon  schools  provided 
only  the  crudest  form  of  instruction.  They 
were  schools  for  training  their  children  in 
the  Mormon  doctrines  and  practices.  Early 
in  the  history  of  Mr.  Welch's  work  it  be- 
came apparent  that  something  must  be  done 
for  the  education  of  the  non-Mormon  chil- 
dren. 

Professor  J.  M.  Coyner's  attention  was 
called  to  the  importance  of  this  work  while 
on  his  way  to  take  charge  of  the  mission 
school  among  the  Nez  Perces  Indians.  The 
proposition  to  enter  Christian  educational 
service  in  Salt  Lake  City  took  such  hold  upon 
him  that  he  offered  to  return  to  it  if  the  peo- 
ple would  undertake  it. 

The  result  was  that  in  a  short  time  he  came 
with  his  wife  and  daughter,  who  later  became 
Mrs.  Welch,  to  take  up  the  labor  that  de- 
manded his  best  service.    Without  promise  of 


24  THE    MORMONS 

support  from  the  East  he  organized  a  school 
and  began  teaching  in  the  basement  of  the 
church.  This  beginning  of  the  noble  career 
of  the  Salt  Lake  Collegiate  Institute  was 
made  on  the  twelfth  of  April,  1875.  The 
story  of  this  institution,  that  enrolled  the  first 
year  sixty-three  pupils,  and  within  the  next 
two  years  one  hundred  and  sixty-five,  would 
furnish  data  for  a  history  of  its  own.  Chris- 
tian education  in  the  Collegiate  Institute  has 
advanced  step  by  step  from  the  day  of  small 
beginnings  until  two  commodious  buildings 
arc  demanded,  and  have  been  furnished  to 
meet  the  necessities  of  the  educational  wants 
of  the  people. 

There  were  two  Christian  schools  here,  the 
Episcopalian  and  the  Methodist,  when  Pro- 
fessor Coyner  entered  the  field.  For  two 
years  he  assumed  the  financial  responsibility, 
and  "Never  asked  the  church  or  community 
for  a  cent  to  aid  in  carrying  on  the  current 
expenses  of  the  school."  The  history  of  those 
years  was  a  histor}''  of  faith  and  answered 
prayer.  Finallj^,  through  an  overture  to  the 
General  Assembly  from  this  Presbytery,  the 
Woman's  Executive  Committee  was  orsran- 
izcd  and  came  to  the  rescue  with  financial  aid. 
Mrs.  Coyner  was  the  first  teacher  commis- 
sioned by  the  Board.  The  Board  of  Home 
Missions   granted  commissions   to   two   other 


THE    MORMONS  25 

teachers,  and  from  that  time  the  Woman's 
Executive  Committee  continued  aid  to  the 
school. 

Having  outgrown  the  basement  of  the 
church.  Professor  Coyner  secured  another 
building,  and  twice  added  to  the  capacity  of 
the  same.  At  the  close  of  ten  years  of  service 
he  retired  from  the  school  in  July,  1885,  on 
account  of  Mrs.  Coyner's  declining  health 
and  removed  to  California.  Dr.  J.  F.  Mills- 
paugh  succeeded  ^Ir.  Coyner  and  carried  on 
the  school  successfully  with  his  assistant 
teachers  until  1890,  when  he  was  elected 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  the 
city. 

For  the  Christian  schools  in  Salt  Lake  City 
had  led  to  the  development  of  a  system  of 
public  schools  in  the  State.  The  present  Su- 
perintendent of  Public  Instruction  for  the 
State,  although  a  JMormon,  recently  said  that 
the  Christian  schools  of  Utah  had  paved  the 
way  for  our  public  school  system  and  had 
made  it  a  necessity. 

After  Dr.  Millspaugh's  retirement  from  the 
Collegiate  Institute,  Mr.  R.  J.  Caskey,a  grad- 
uate of  Knox  College,  Galesbur}^,  Illinois, 
who  had  been  connected  with  the  school  since 
1887,  was  chosen  superintendent  in  1891,  and 
continued  at  the  head  of  the  institution  until 
1904).     During  his  connection  with  the  Insti- 


26  THE    MORMONS 

tutc  the  women  of  the  Synod  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, aided  by  ^Mrs.  Cyrus  McCormick,  St., 
of  Chicago,  have  erected  a  second  building 
at  a  cost  of  $26,000.  This  building  furnishes 
complete  equipment  for  the  Institute — recita- 
tion rooms,  dormitory  for  the  young  ladies, 
and  boarding  department.  In  the  thorough 
academic  work  of  the  Institute,  fitting  pupils 
for  college,  it  has  graduated  one  hundred 
and  thirty-three.  It  has  sent  out  eighteen 
pupils  as  mission  teachers,  and  forty  into 
public  school  teaching.  It  has  furnished 
three  college  professors,  after  they  had  fin- 
islicd  college  courses  elsewhere.  Fifty-seven 
of  the  graduates  have  continued  their  studies 
beyond  the  instruction  furnished  here,  and 
forty-two  are  at  present  pursuing  higher 
courses. 

The  crowning  institution  of  our  Presby- 
terian mission  school  work  in  Utah  is  West- 
minster College,  to  which  Dr.  McNiece  has 
devoted  all  his  energies  since  leaving  the  pas- 
torate of  the  First  Church. 

The  social,  educational,  moral,  and  re- 
ligious influence  of  these  Christian  institu- 
tions cannot  be  tabulated.  They  have  en- 
tered into  tlic  life  of  the  State,  and  are  one 
of  the  influences  that  are  slowly  but  surely 
transforming^  public  sentiment  and  the  life 
of  the  2^eople. 


Prof.  John  M.  Coyner,  Ph.D. 


CHAPTER    IV 

Presbytery  Organized — A  Surprised  People — 
Wasatch  Academy — Another  Church — In- 
quirers— Progress — The  Staying  Preacher 
— Model  School — American  Fork — Growth 
— ^The  Alternative. 

The  Presbytery  of  Utah  was  organized 
December  seventh,  187^,  early  in  the  history 
of  our  work  in  Utah.  The  meeting  to  con- 
summate the  organization  was  held  in  the 
study  of  the  Rev.  Josiah  Welch,  in  the  build- 
ing known  as  Roland  Hall,  in  which  the  Epis- 
copal Church  was  carrying  on  its  Christian 
educational  work. 

The  following  persons  were  present,  and 
constituted  the  organization:  the  Rev.  Josiah 
Welch,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  of  Salt  Lake  City;  and  Elders  J.  J. 
Critchlow,  of  the  same  church;  Sheldon 
Jackson,  Synodical  Missionary,  and  the  Rev. 
S.  L.  Gillespie,  of  Corinne. 

Some  time  later,  the  Rev.  D.  J.  McMillan, 
D.D.,  came  to  the  Territory  in  quest  of 
health,  reaching  Salt  Lake  City  in  Febru- 
ary, 1875.  In  conference  with  the  Rev.  Josiah 
27 


28  THE    MORMONS 

Welch,  pastor  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Salt  Lake  City,  he  was  advised  to 
visit  Mt.  Pleasant,  in  San  Pete  County,  a 
hundred  miles  south  of  the  city.  This  was  a 
town  in  which  the  people  had  erected  tri- 
umphal floral  arches  to  welcome  Brigham, 
and  had  hailed  him  as  "King  Brigham"  on 
his  arrival.  These  extreme  demonstrations  of 
disloyalty  to  our  Government,  together  with 
the  heavy  hand  of  the  priesthood  on  the  peo- 
ple had  produced  a  reaction.  A  number  of 
Mormons  had  apostatized,  and  had  banded 
themselves  together  to  resist  the  oppression 
of  the  priesthood.  They  had  gone  into  infi- 
delity, which  is  the  usual  rebound  from  Mor- 
monism,  and  had  erected  a  hall  for  dancing 
and  social  purposes. 

Dr.  McMillan  surprised  the  inhabitants 
by  his  unexpected  arrival  in  town,  and  took 
up  his  abode  among  the  people  in  rather  un- 
comfortable quarters.  The  apostates  warmed 
up  to  him,  as  he  did  not  wear  the  Mormon 
brand.  He  was,  however,  invited,  even  by  the 
bishop,  to  speak  in  the  Mormon  meeting- 
house. The  acceptance  of  the  invitation,  and 
the  preaching  furnished  a  large  topic  for 
town  talk.  In  the  absence  of  any  adequate 
school  facilities  it  was  proposed  that  Dr. 
McMillan  open  a  school  in  "Liberal  Hall,"  to 
which  he  acceded.    In  the  absence  of  any  ac- 


THE    MORMONS  29 

commodations  in  the  way  of  seating  his 
pupils,  he  followed  the  example  of  Professor 
Coyner  at  Salt  Lake  City,  and  provided  seats 
with  his  own  hands. 

In  the  meantime  the  Mormon  atmosphere 
was  growing  murky.  Divers  public  and  pri- 
vate demonstrations  were  made  for  the  pur- 
pose of  intimidation;  but  the  mission  school 
had  opened  with  no  purpose  of  closing.  Dr. 
McMillan  stood  his  ground  firmly.  Begin- 
ning with  a  small  number  of  pupils  the  at- 
tendance grew  to  over  a  hundred.  The  house 
was  purchased  which  furnished  an  audience 
room  for  preaching  the  gospel.  It  was  easy 
to  purchase  the  building,  but  to  make  the 
payments  was  a  more  difficult  proposition. 
The  Presbyterian  women  of  Cedar  Rapids, 
Iowa,  though  not  the  same  that  "labored  with 
Paul  in  the  gospel,**  had  the  same  spirit  of 
self-sacrifice  and  came  to  the  rescue.  The 
building  was  paid  for  and  the  work  went  on. 
Mr.  H.  G.  McMillan,  brother  of  the  young 
minister  and  now  an  elder  in  the  First  Church 
of  Salt  Lake  City,  was  enlisted  in  the  work 
of  teaching.  The  school  grew  to  enormous 
proportions  in  view  of  the  limited  room  for 
carrying  on  the  work. 

Later  this  mission  school  took  on  academic 
proportions,  and  is  now  the  Wasatch  Acad- 
emy, housed  in  a  fine  three-story  building. 


30  THE    MORMONS 

with  ample  grounds.  A  home  for  pupils  and 
boarding  accommodations  and  house  of  wor- 
sliip  for  the  church  put  our  educational  plant 
at  ^It.  Pleasant  at  the  front.  Principal 
George  H.  Marshall  and  his  six  associate 
teachers  are  rendering  a  very  valuable  service 
in  Christian  education  for  all  that  region  of 
the  State. 

The  bitter  opposition  of  the  priesthood  at 
Mt.  Pleasant  and  the  lost  faith  of  the  apos- 
tates, which  had  driven  them  into  infidel- 
ity, were  difficult  barriers  to  break  down. 
But  the  Hearer  of  Prayer  answered  the  cry 
of  the  missionary,  and  inquirers  sought  the 
way  of  life  and  found  what  they  sought.  The 
organization  of  the  church  took  place  on  Jan- 
uary eleventh,  1880.  The  church,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  academy,  has  exerted  a  strong 
moulding  influence  in  the  town  and  reached 
far  beyond.  Young  men  and  women  from 
distant  Mormon  communities  have  been  drawn 
to  this  centre  of  educational  influence,  and 
have  gone  out  to  the  work  of  life  with  new 
purposes  and  hopes.  They  have  gone  out  to 
build  American  homes  and  to  devote  them- 
selves loyally  to  those  institutions  that  make 
for  the  life  and  power  of  our  nation. 

Dr.  McMillan  pushed  his  way  on  to 
Ephraim  and  Manti,  farther  south  in  San 
Pete    County,    making    and    filling    appoint- 


THE    MORMONS  31 

ments  as  he  could  get  or  make  opportunities 
for  a  hearing.  His  first  visit,  and  indeed  the 
first  visit  of  any  Christian  minister  to  Manti, 
was  in  April,  1875. 

A  Christian  layman,  however,  had  been 
there  as  early  as  1872  or  1873.  This  was  Mr. 
Bascom,  of  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  where  he 
was  an  elder  in  the  church.  He  was  also  a  col- 
porteur of  the  American  Tract  Society.  He 
visited  the  family  of  a  Mr.  Miller,  afterward 
a  prominent  member  and  elder  in  the  church 
at  Manti.     Mr.  Miller  says  of  Mr.  Bascom: 

"He  was  a  very  kind  man,  a  colporteur,  but 
he  did  not  try  to  sell  any  books  to  us.  He 
just  talked,  asked  if  we  were  Mormons.  We 
said: 

"  'Well  no,  not  now.' 

"He  gave  us  to  understand  that  he  was  not 
a  Mormon.     He  was  so  kind,  and  said : 

"  'You  may  talk  to  me;  have  you  thrown 
away  your  religion  ?  ' 

"  'No,  we  have  gone  back  to  our  Lutheran 
Christianity.* 

"  'That  is  good,'  said  he.  'There  is  not 
much  difference  between  Lutherans  and  other 
Christians.'  " 

There  was  much  more  of  that  preaching 
by  the  wayside  that  bore  fruit,  and  helped  to 
steady  this  man  and  others.  It  is  reported 
that  occasional  visits  were  made  to  Manti  up 


32  THE    MORMONS 

to  1877;  but  the  first  sermon  was  preached  by 
Dr.  McMillan,  March  fourth,  1878.  His 
brother  Joseph,  a  layman,  had  held  frequent 
religious  services  prior  to  that  date.  The 
death  of  Mrs.  Scobe,  the  wife  of  an  apostate 
from  the  Mormon  faith,  brought  Dr.  McMil- 
lan by  invitation  to  that  service.  It  was  held 
in  the  Mormon  meeting-house.  His  pres- 
ence and  that  sermon  cut  the  hearts  of  some 
who  made  themselves  known  as  inquirers. 

The  interest  increased  until  Dr.  McNiece, 
with  Dr.  McMillan,  came  to  Manti  on  the 
twenty-ninth  of  April,  1878.  After  visiting 
tlie  people,  they  found  twelve  persons  who 
desired  to  unite  in  the  organization  of  a 
Presbyterian  church.  On  the  next  day.  Sab- 
bath, the  thirtieth  of  April,  after  a  sermon 
in  a  public  hall,  the  organization  was  effected. 
Having  received  a  solemn  charge  as  to  the 
nature  of  the  covenant  which  they  had  made 
with  God,  several  children  were  consecrated 
to  God  in  baptism.  Three  elders  were  elect- 
ed. Their  ordination  was  deferred  for  a 
time  until  they  could  be  instructed  in  refer- 
ence to  the  duties  of  that  responsible  office. 
On  July  twenty-fourth,  following.  Dr.  Shel- 
don Jackson,  who  is  generally  somewhere, 
and  particularly  where  he  ought  to  be,  was 
present,  preached  the  sermon,  and  assisted 
in  the  ordination  of  the  elders. 


THE    MORMONS  33 

The  Rev.  George  W.  Martin,  D.D.,  came  to 
Manti  with  his  bride  in  September,  1879- 
He  was  a  graduate  of  Ohio  University,  also 
of  Union  Theological  Seminary,  in  the  days 
of  Drs.  Adams,  Shedd,  Hitchcock,  Henry  B. 
Smith,  and  Philip  ShafF.  He  came  not  for 
a  trip,  though  he  got  it;  nor  an  experiment, 
though  he  got  an  experience ;  but  to  stay.  He 
brought  all  his  staying  qualities  with  him, 
and  has  kept  them  on  hand,  as  the  history  of 
the  church  indicates.  On  the  organization  of 
the  church  at  Ephraim,  by  himself  and  Dr. 
McMillan,  February  first,  1880,  he  was  put 
in  charge  of  that  work  also,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  care  for  both  that  church  and  the 
church  at  Manti. 

The  mission  school  work  at  Manti  ante- 
dates the  organization  of  the  church  by  a 
year.  Andrew  Nelson,  once  a  Mormon  elder 
and  missionary,  then  an  apostate  and  infidel, 
now,  by  the  grace  of  God,  a  beloved  brother 
and  ruling  elder  in  the  church  at  Manti,  gives 
a  bit  of  history  that  illumines  the  origin  of 
the  mission  school  at  Manti. 

He  had  heard  of  Dr.  McMillan's  educa- 
tional work  at  Mt.  Pleasant.  Having  turned 
his  back  on  the  Adam-God  doctrine,  and  other 
fancies  of  Mormonism,  he  was  looking 
about  him  for  a  way  to  educate  his  children 
without    exposure    to    the    theological    fogs 


34  THE    MORMONS 

through  which  he  had  sailed  to  spiritual  ship- 
wreck. He  saw  a  ray  of  light  flashing  from 
Mt.  Pleasant  mission  school,  and  tells  us 
what  he  decided  to  do  about  it. 

"I  and  Andrew  Jensen  hired  Swenson  with 
his  buggy  and  little  mules,  and  went  to  Mt. 
Pleasant,  and  saw  Rev.  D.  J.  McMillan,  soon 
after  he  opened  his  school  there.  McMillan 
asked  me  what  chance  there  would  be  for  a 
mission  school  at  Manti.  I  told  him  I  would 
support  it  with  all  I  could  send.  Mr.  McMil- 
lan spoke  of  a  sister-in-law  whom  he  hoped 
he  could  get.  He  did  get  her,  and  she  made 
a  great  success.  Nearly  half  the  town  went 
to  the  school." 

That  teacher  was  Mrs.  Joseph  McMillan 
from  Portland,  Oregon,  who  with  her  hus- 
band united  by  letter  at  the  organization  of 
the  church.  So  it  was  that  "the  little  mules" 
dragged  the  mission  school  into  Manti. 
Later  Miss  Fannie  Galbraith  was  commis- 
sioned and  entered  the  school  as  teacher.  For 
eiglit  years  she  toiled  and  put  the  school  on  a 
solid  basis,  and  gave  it  a  character  for  thor- 
ough scholarship  which  it  has  ever  main- 
tained. 

The  Manti  mission  school  has  been  a 
model,  one  of  the  best  on  the  missionary  field. 
The  building  itself  invites  the  best  work  of 
pupils  and  teachers.    It  is  built  of  oolite  from 


THE    MORMONS  35 

the  same  quarry  that  furnished  material  for 
the  Mormon  temple  at  Manti,  and  is  in  Gothic 
style.  It  was  completed  and  dedicated  free 
from  debt,  November  thirteenth,  1881.  It 
was  the  gift  of  the  women  of  the  Presbytery 
of  Buffalo,  assisted  by  the  Board  of  Church 
Erection. 

Some  of  the  pupils  have  gone  into  public 
school  work  as  teachers.  One  is  a  county  su- 
perintendent;  another  is  a  city  principal  of  a 
public  school.  Others  have  gone  out  to  make 
homes  after  the  American  pattern  and  cast  the 
leaven  of  their  school  training  into  the  social 
life  of  the  communities  in  which  they  dwell. 
The  older  members  of  the  church  came  out 
of  Mormonism,  and  are  now  stanch  support- 
ers of  our  work,  living  trophies  of  what  the 
gospel  has  accomplished. 

It  would  be  a  pleasure  to  turn  aside  from 
this  narrative  if  there  were  space  and  sketch 
for  the  reader  the  remarkable  experiences  of 
some  of  these  people  who  came  out  of  dark- 
ness into  light.  Even  IMormons  cannot  dis- 
count the  fruits  of  the  gospel  as  seen  in  the 
lives  of  these  converts.  A  mother  who  was 
distressed  over  the  conversion  of  her  son  to 
Christianity,  when  she  saw  the  change  in  his 
life,  the  new  spirit  of  gentleness,  truthful- 
ness, and  obedience  in  the  home,  ventured  to 
express  the  wish  that  her  other  son  might  ex- 


36  THE    MORMONS 

perience  the  same  transformation  in  his  life 
— a  wish  that  actually  was  realized  in  his 
conversion. 

A  very  interesting  conversion  should  be 
mentioned.  Dr.  Martin  was  engaged  in  spe- 
cial meetings  with  his  little  company  of  be- 
lievers. A  burden  of  prayer  was  upon  them, 
which  they  were  bearing  to  God.  During 
tlie  meeting,  Mr.  N.,  who  had  been  a  Mor- 
mon, a  missionary,  then  an  agnostic,  met  sev- 
eral Mormon  friends  for  an  evening  at  cards. 
As  the  game  became  exciting,  one  of  the 
sports  indulged  in  some  profanity,  which  Mr. 
N.  rebuked.  The  swearing  saint  was  indig- 
nant at  being  impeached,  and  avowed  the 
superiority  of  his  character.  Mr.  N.  replied, 
in  substance,  that  there  was  one  righteous 
man  in  the  town,  and  that  was  the  Presby- 
terian missionary.  The  discussion  broke 
up  the  game,  and  the  gentlemen  retired.  As 
Mr.  N.  walked  home  he  said  to  himself — 

"I  have  said  it  and  it  is  true — and  it  is 
true  because  he  is  a  Christian." 

He  reached  home  not  to  sleep,  but  to  pray. 
After  a  struggle  of  two  or  three  days,  pray- 
ing, doubting,  believing,  he  at  length  sub- 
mitted to  Christ,  and  took  his  position  among 
the  Christians.  He  is  now  an  elder  in  the 
clmrch,  and  represented  our  presbytery  in  the 
General  Assembly  at  New  York  in  1902. 


THE    MORMONS  37 

Five  months  previous  to  the  organization 
of  the  church  at  Manti,  missionary  work  was 
commenced  at  American  Fork.  This  is  a 
town  with  twenty-seven  hundred  inhabitants, 
situated  on  a  beautiful  plateau  extending 
from  the  northern  extremity  of  Utah  Lake  on 
the  west  to  the  foot-hills  of  the  Wasatch 
Mountains  on  the  east.  The  town  is  thirty- 
three  miles  south  of  Salt  Lake  City  and  one 
of  the  attractive  towns  of  Utah.  Originally 
it  was  densely  Mormon,  but  now  accepts  the 
presence  of  a  few  non-Mormons.  The  Rev. 
George  R.  Bird,  now  of  Bakersville,  Califor- 
nia, was  the  pioneer  missionary.  Dr.  McMil- 
lan had  occasionally  felt  the  Mormon  pulse  in 
American  Fork,  but  the  way  had  not  been 
open  to  attempt  positive  and  continuous 
work  until  the  coming  of  Mr.  Bird.  He  began 
preaching  the  gospel  September  ninth,  1877. 
He  began  his  work  in  what  was  known  as 
"Social  Hall,"  which  was  another  name  for 
"Dance  Hall."  On  entering  these  Mormon 
towns,  our  missionaries  were  permitted  to 
locate  themselves,  usually,  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  village,  as  at  Smithfield ;  or  sometimes  the 
high  privilege  was  granted  of  getting  into 
the  "Amusement  Hall."  Thus  it  befell  Mr. 
Bird  at  American  Fork. 

He  accepted  the  situation.  The  walls  of 
that  old  building  soon  echoed  to  the  unfamil- 


38  THE    MORMONS 

iar  sounds  and  sentiments  of  the  gospel  of 
the  grace  of  God.  His  work  began  to  tell 
at  once,  and  in  a  little  more  than  two  months 
a  small  company  of  believers  (five)  were  or- 
ganized into  a  church.  During  the  following 
year  a  lot  was  secured,  with  a  small  building 
on  it.  By  the  aid  of  the  Church  Erection 
Board  that  shanty,  for  it  was  little  more,  was 
reconstructed.  The  improvement  was  suffi- 
cient to  be  dignified  by  the  name  of  "Chapel." 
The  people  had  put  their  hands  to  this  im- 
provement in  the  sum  of  seven  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars. 

A  Sabbath  school  was  born  two  weeks  after 
Mr.  Bird  began  his  work,  which  passed 
througli  and  survived  all  the  stages  of  infant 
ailment  and  is  to-day  a  living,  growing  force. 
The  growth  of  the  Sabbath  school  and  con- 
gregation demanded  another  new  building 
within  two  years,  adding  to  the  expense  of  the 
work.  Success  is  always  expensive  for  it 
demands  enlargement  and  better  appliances. 

The  departure  of  Mr.  Bird  was  immedi- 
ately made  good  by  the  coming  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  F.  Day,  D.D.,  on  the  twenty-fifth  of 
August,  1880.  He  was  recently  from  the 
seminary,  a  brother  of  fine  spirit  and  excel- 
lent scholarship,  and  wise  in  the  manage- 
ment of  his  work.  For  ten  years  Dr.  Day 
toiled  with  us,  and  might  have  been  with  us 


THE    MORMONS  39 

yet  but  for  the  theft  committed  by  the  direc- 
tors of  the  Theological  Seminary  of  San 
Francisco  when  they  put  him  into  the  Hebrew 
professorship  of  the  seminary.  During  his 
ministry  a  fine  brick  house  of  worship  was 
erected  furnishing  ample  room  for  the  con- 
gregation and  the  mission  school  with  its  two 
teachers.  The  residence  erected  by  Dr.  Day 
has  since  been  purchased  by  the  Woman's 
Board  as  a  home  for  our  teachers.  The  entire 
property  is  valued  at  $6^000,  including  the 
ample  grounds  connected  with  the  buildings. 

A  very  valuable  educational  and  religious 
work  has  been  carried  on  at  American  Fork. 
The  mission  school  was  inaugurated  by  Miss 
Ada  Kingsbury,  now  Mrs.  T.  F.  Day,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1879.  It  has  been  wisely  and  effi- 
ciently prosecuted.  Two  teachers  have  been 
employed  for  a  score  of  years,  and  the  gospel 
has  been  faithfully  preached  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  work. 

Our  embarrassment  has  been  in  the  diffi- 
culty of  securing  successors  to  the  ministers 
who  have  been  taken  from  us.  This  difficulty 
was  recently  illustrated  by  a  young  minister 
in  the  East.  He  was  burning  with  home  mis- 
sionary zeal  and  wrote  to  find  work.  He  was 
offered  an  important  field,  but  it  was  fifty 
miles  from  the  railroad  and  was  declined  be- 
cause of  the  air  of  loncsomeness.     He  was 


40  THE    MORMONS 

then  offered  the  work  at  American  Fork  with 
two  railroads,  one  for  himself  and  one  for  his 
wife.  His  zeal  had  gone  hopelessly  down 
and  he  declined.  He  was  then  offered  a  field 
in  one  of  our  best  towns  with  two  railroads 
and  a  first-class  Presbyterian  Academy  at- 
tached as  a  bonus.  But  he  had  discovered  it 
was  his  duty  to  remain  in  the  East  and  "make 
the  most  of  life." 

This  church  at  American  Fork  and  mission 
school  have  witnessed  precious  scenes  of  re- 
vival and  ingathering,  not  large,  but  exceed- 
ingly important.  A  young  man,  a  polyg- 
amous son,  at  his  conversion  was  offered 
the  alternative  of  banishment  from  home  or 
the  abandonment  of  his  new-found  hope.  He 
chose  the  former  and  had  to  leave  the  town 
to  secure  employment.  He  is  now  building 
an  American  home  with  his  young  Christian 
wife.  We  are  constantly  cheered  by  such 
exhibitions  of  Christian  heroism.  Though 
the  quantity  of  results  is  not  startling  in  our 
Mormon  work,  yet  the  quality  is  exceedingly 
precious. 

During  the  year  1885,  the  Home  Mission 
Board  commissioned  the  Rev.  H.  A.  Newell, 
to  engage  in  mission  work  in  the  western 
part  of  Salt  Lake  City.  He  entered  earnestly 
upon  the  service  with  his  devoted  wife  and 
in  a  short  time  the  Westminster  Church  was 


THE    MORMONS  41 

organized.  A  mission  school  was  opened  and 
was  supported  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Camp* 
of  Bement,  Illinois.  Mr.  Newell  labored  in- 
defatigably,  and  secured  the  building  of  a 
house  of  worship.  The  congregation  had 
worshipped  hitherto  in  the  school  room.  On 
account  of  Mrs.  Newell's  health  Dr.  Newell 
removed  to  California. 

The  Rev.  William  R.  Campbell  came  from 
Union  Seminary,  and  with  his  young  wife 
took  up  the  work  for  a  time  but  removed  to 
Mendon.  The  church  was  scattered  and  dis- 
organized. In  the  spring  of  1888  the  Rev. 
F.  L.  Arnold  was  requested  by  the  Presby- 
tery to  take  charge  of  the  discouraged  mis- 
sion. He  continued  his  labors  successfully 
for  ten  or  eleven  years  and  with  the  blessing 
of  God  built  up  a  strong  church.  On  his  re- 
tirement the  Rev.  George  Bailey,  D.D.,  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  and  continued  the 
work  successfully  until  he  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  Westminster  College.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  Rev.  John  Richelson,  who  led 
the  church  to  self-support. 

The  Third  Presbyterian  Church  grew  out 
of  a  mission  school  organized  in  a  private 
house   and  conducted  by  Dr.   E.   V.   Silver. 

*This  work  was  undertaken  as  a  memorial  of  a 
departed  daughter.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Camp  are  still 
supporting  one  of  our  mission  schools. 


42  THE    MORMONS 

The  school  began  in  Lincoln  Park  Addition, 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  city.  A 
prayer-meeting  was  organized  at  once  and 
the  interest  developed  so  rapidly  that  it  be- 
came necessary  to  secure  the  erection  of  a 
house  of  worship. 

The  building  was  soon  completed  and  on 
the  nineteenth  of  June,  1902,  a  church  was 
organized  and  the  building  dedicated. 

The  Rev.  Josiah  McClain  took  charge  of 
the  church  as  stated  supply  on  the  day  of  its 
organization,  and  has  steadily  prosecuted  the 
work  to  the  present  time.  Another  house  of 
worship  is  now  in  process  of  erection  which 
will  furnish  ample  facilities  for  giving  the 
gospel  to  that  part  of  the  city. 


MANTI   PRESBYTERIAN   CHAPEL 


CHAPTER    V 

Entering  Ogden — Forward  Movement — Short 
Pastorates — Preaching  to  a  Procession — 
New  Church  Home — City  Delivered — Pres- 
ent P.\storate — One-Man  Rule  in  Brigham 
— Order  of  Enoch — Deterahned  Missionary 
— His  Reception — ^The  Bishop  Fertilizing — 
Dr.  Rankin — Kingdom  Coahng. 

Home  ISIission  work  was  inaugurated  in 
Ogden  in  1878.  Ogden  is  the  second  city  in 
Utah  in  population  and  importance.  It  is 
located  at  the  junction  of  the  Weber  and 
Ogden  Rivers.  These  streams^  pouring  down 
from  the  mountains  through  the  Weber  and 
Ogden  Canyons,  unite  west  of  the  city  and 
pass  off  into  Great  Salt  Lake,  nine  miles 
westward.  The  city,  built  first  on  the  valley 
below,  gradually  moved  up  on  the  bench  to 
the  foot  of  the  Wasatch  Range  of  the 
mountains,  giving  a  fine  and  extended  view 
off  over  the  valley  and  the  lake.  The  Mor- 
mons early  settled  here.  The  city  and  val- 
ley have  been  the  scene  of  many  tragic  events. 

The  completion  of  the  Union  Pacific,  the 
Central    Pacific    and    the    Denver    and    Rio 


44  THE    MORMONS 

Grande  railroads^  with  their  termini  at 
Ogden,  brought  a  large  influx  of  non-Mor- 
mon people.  The  city^  however,  was  held 
under  Mormon  control  for  years.  The 
schools  were  under  the  same  management  and 
furnished  little  more  than  instruction  in  Mor- 
mon religion.  But  the  American  element  was 
growing  in  the  town  and  the  time  had  come 
for  the  gospel  to  be  preached  in  Ogden. 

The  Rev.  G.  W.  Gallagher  came  from 
the  theological  seminary  to  Ogden  in  Septem- 
ber, and  the  First  Presbyterian  Church  was 
organized  on  Sabbath  evening,  September 
twenty-ninth,  1878.  The  Rev.  S.  L.  Gillespie, 
our  minister  at  Corinne,  had  preached  occa- 
sionally at  Ogden  and  also  at  Evanston,  a 
hundred  miles  distant  from  his  home,  at  a 
cost  of  seventeen  dollars  each  trip.  But  now 
that  a  minister  had  located  at  Ogden,  the 
work  was  taken  up  more  vigorously  and  in  a 
little  less  than  two  years  a  lot  and  house  of 
worship  had  been  secured.  This  home  of  the 
church  was  occupied  for  ten  years. 

Having  completed  the  house  of  worship, 
]\Ir.  Gallagher  remained  but  a  short  time  then 
removed  to  Eureka,  Nevada. 

He  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  J.  F. 
Knowles  in  1880,  whose  work  was  brief  in 
Ogden. 

In  tlic  meantime  mission  school  work  had 


THE    MORMONS  45 

been  opened.  It  had  become  the  policy  of 
our  Presbytery  to  secure  such  mission  teach- 
ers as  we  were  able  to  employ.  It  was  found 
that  a  mission  school  teacher  could  enter  one 
of  these  towns  and  inaugurate  work  where 
it  was  difficult  to  locate  a  minister. 

It  was  at  Ogden,  at  a  regular  meeting  of 
the  Presbytery,  February  eighth,  1877,  that 
this  small  body  ventured  to  boldly  overture 
the  General  Assembly  on  the  subject  of  the 
work  of  mission  teachers  as  a  part  of  the  in- 
strumentality to  give  the  gospel  to  the  people 
of  Utah.  Having  carried  on  the  work  thus 
far  by  private  solicitation  and  with  the  aid 
of  such  help  as  came  to  them,  the  Presbytery 
decided  that  the  time  had  come  for  a  forward 
movement  and  an  appeal  to  our  Assembly  for 
organized  help.  Hence  the  following  over- 
ture was  prepared  and  sent  to  the  Assembly 
by  the  Presbytery's  commissioner;  viz.: 

"Whereas,  in  the  growth  of  mission  work 
among  the  Mormons,  Mexicans,  and  Indians, 
we  have  reached  a  point  where  further  prog- 
ress makes  it  imperative  that  lady  teachers 
and  Bible  readers  should  be  secured  in  the 
work.     And 

"Whereas,  some  of  the  ladies'  missionary 
societies  which  have  organized  in  accordance 
with  the  recommendation  of  the  Assembly 
have  sent  money  to  the  Board  of  Home  Mis- 


46  THE    MORMONS 

sions  to  be  expended  in  employing  lady  mis- 
sionaries, and  many  more  are  organizing  for 
the  same  purpose — 

"Therefore,  the  Presbytery  of  Utah  in 
session  at  Ogden,  February  Sth,  1877,  would 
respectfully  overture  the  General  Assembly 
to  authorize  the  Board  of  Home  Missions  to 
commission  lady  teachers  and  Bible  readers, 
upon  the  proper  recommendation  of  the  Pres- 
byteries in  whose  bounds  such  service  is  re- 
quired, when  the  funds  especiallj'-  designated 
for  such  a  purpose  shall  justify  it." 

Thus  was  opened,  by  this  action  of  the 
Presbytery  at  Ogden,  the  work  that  has  taken 
on  such  vast  proportions  among  the  excep- 
tional populations  in  our  country,  and  has  en- 
listed so  many  noble  women  to  give  them- 
selves first,  and  others  to  give  their  means  to 
this  blessed  toil. 

The  mission  school  that  had  been  opened 
in  Ogden  early  in  our  occupancy  of  the  city 
was  continued  only  for  three  or  four  years 
and  with  moderate  success.  It  never  had  a 
suitable  home,  being  carried  on  in  a  private 
dwelling.  The  Congregationalists  had  or- 
ganized the  Gordon  Academy,  which  fairly 
well  supplied  the  wants  of  the  city  in  the 
matter  of  Christian  education,  and  our  school 
work  was  discontinued. 

After    the    departure    of    the     Rev.     Mr. 


THE    MORMONS  47 

Knowlcs,  our  church  was  vacant  for  two 
years  and  suffered  such  a  depletion  as  is 
usual  on  the  frontier  under  such  conditions. 
At  lengtli  the  Rev.  Josiah  McClain,  of  Car- 
son City,  Nevada,  was  induced  to  take  our 
forlorn  hope  at  Ogden.  On  the  first  Sabbath 
of  his  entrance  upon  his  charge  he  was 
greeted  by  the  presence  of  ten  hearers  and  a 
Sunday  school  of  fifteen.  His  congregation 
during  the  coming  year  was  composed  almost 
entirely  of  railroad  employes  who  were  sent 
hither  and  thither  by  the  corporation.  He 
had  the  usual  experience  of  our  frontier  men, 
that  of  preaching  to  a  moving  congregation. 
In  a  single  year,  while  he  received  fifteen 
into  membership,  he  dismissed  sixteen.  But 
the  presence  and  constant  work  of  the  pastor 
gradually  began  to  steady  his  congregation 
and  adjust  the  membership  to  the  service  re- 
quired of  them. 

Through  the  Marquand  estate  a  better  lo- 
cation was  secured  for  the  growing  congrega- 
tion in  the  upper  and  residence  part  of  the 
city.  During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  McClain 
a  new  house  of  worship  was  projected.  A 
lecture  room  was  completed  and  the  founda- 
tion laid  for  the  main  audience  room.  In 
the  meantime  a  political  storm  was  brewing 
in  the  city.  The  portion  of  the  population 
that  believed  in  the  Government  of  the  United 


48  THE    MORMONS 

States  had  grown  rapidly.  The  domination 
of  the  Mormon  priesthood  in  the  civil  and 
educational  life  of  the  city  had  become  in- 
tolerable. Although  the  non-Mormons  were 
numerically  equal  to  the  Mormon  population, 
yet  they  were  refused  any  share  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  city's  management  on 
school  government.  This  injustice  so  roused 
the  people  that  they  resolved  to  throw  off  the 
yoke  and  did  it.  Ogden  was  the  first  city 
delivered  from  the  tyranny  of  the  hier- 
archy. The  Presbyterian,  Methodist,  Bap- 
tist, and  Congregational  churches,  casting  in 
the  leaven  of  the  gospel,  teaching  the  people 
to  "Call  no  man  master,"  had  quietly  pushed 
to  this  result. 

After  nearly  seven  years  of  labor,  Mr. 
IVIcClain  was  transferred  for  a  few  months 
to  Nephi,  then  to  the  Third  Church  of  Salt 
Lake  City.  Several  short  pastorates  followed 
this  change,  when  the  Rev.  C.  F.  Richard- 
son gave  several  years  of  successful  service 
in  the  church.  The  present  pastor.  Rev.  J. 
E.  Carver,  carried  the  church  to  self-support, 
and  completed  the  main  audience  room  of  the 
building. 

In  the  southern  part  of  the  city  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  of  the  First  Church,  Elder 
May  and  several  other  workers  opened  a  mis- 
sion which  has  grown  into  a  church  now  sue- 


THE    MORMONS  49 

cess  fully  ministered  to  by  the  Rev.  James 
Thompson.  The  small  beginnings  of  early 
days  have  resulted  in  a  gratifying  justifica- 
tion for  the  outlay  of  toil  and  money.  The 
entire  moral  atmosphere  has  been  revolution- 
ized. Social,  educational,  and  religious  life 
has  been  lifted  to  a  higher  plane.  Even 
Mormon  morals  are  making  some  eifort  to 
gather  themselves  up  into  civilized  and  pre- 
sentable attitude. 

Brigham  is  a  town  twenty  miles  north  of 
Ogden,  lying  up  close  to  the  Wasatch 
Mountains.  It  is  located  at  the  mouth  of 
one  of  those  canyons  down  which  pours  the 
beautiful  stream  of  water  that  gives  life  to 
all  the  plains  below.  When  our  missionary 
work  began  there  it  was  one  of  the  most  in- 
tense Mormon  towns  in  the  Territory.  It 
was  under  the  control  of  one  man.  Apostle 
Lorenzo  Snow, — since,  the  president  of  the 
Church.  The  loyalty  of  Apostle  Snow  and 
the  people  to  every  wish  of  Brigham  Young 
was  such  that  he  gave  it  his  name.  It  is  the 
county  seat  of  the  large  county  of  Box  Elder. 

When  our  work  began  there,  "The  United 
Order  of  Enoch"  embraced  practically  the 
whole  population.  This  was  a  religious 
order  in  which  there  was  a  pretence  of  a  com- 
munity of  goods.  Property  and  wages  were 
put   into   the   hands   of   the   leaders    of   the 


60  THE    MORMONS 

Church  for  their  care  and  investment.  And 
"in  the  fulness  of  time,"  when  a  sufficient 
amount  of  wealth  had  been  gathered  into  the 
hands  of  the  church  authorities,  Brigham 
Young,  possessing  all  authority,  dissolved  the 
Order  without  making  any  financial  report. 
This  was  the  saintly  method  of  getting  a 
corner  on  the  finances  of  the  people. 

It  was  the  boast  of  this  people,  so  loyal  to 
their  master,  that  no  non-Mormon  family 
should  ever  find  a  home  in  the  town.  But 
there  was  one  man  and  his  family  that  had 
not  yet  been  reckoned  with. 

Our  missionary  at  Corinne,  the  Rev.  S.  L. 
Gillespie,  began  to  feel  his  way  out  from  his 
home  town  into  the  adjacent  villages.  He 
had  preached  at  Ogden,  twenty-five  miles 
away;  Evanston,  seventy-five  miles  farther 
east;  and  out  north  at  Malad,  fifty  miles  dis- 
tant. The  town  of  Brigham,  only  five  or  six 
miles  away  from  his  home,  could  scarcely 
hope  to  escape  the  coming  of  this  determined 
missionary.  Indeed  it  had  not  escaped.  He 
had  managed  to  make  himself  heard  in  the 
Court  House  in  Brigham,  whether  the  people 
would  consent  or  not.  For  some  time  he 
sought  without  avail  to  get  a  foothold. 
But  tyranny  sometimes  overreaches  itself. 
And  so  here.  A  certain  Mormon  brother  had 
borne  the  yoke  until  patience  and  endurance 


THE    MORMONS  51 

were  exhausted.  Having  learned  that  Mr. 
Gillespie  wished  to  get  in,  and  having  re- 
solved for  himself  to  get  out,  the  two  came 
together  and  his  property  was  transferred  to 
the  Home  Mission  Board  for  a  consideration. 

Mr.  Gillespie  writes: 

"The  deed  for  our  property  at  Brigham 
.  .  .  is  dated  October  second,  1877.  After- 
ward came  the  canceling  of  the  mortgage 
which  had  given  me  many  an  anxious  thought, 
until  it  was  finally  settled  by  Dr.  Kendall, 
who  sent  me  his  quarter's  salary  for  that 
purpose,  with  strict  orders  not  to  make  it 
known." 

He  adds, 

"The  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Soci- 
ety of  Brooklyn  afterward  returned  him  the 
money,  and  built  the  new  church." 

Mr.  Gillespie  moved  to  Brigham  June 
thirteenth,  1878,  to  take  care  of  the  property 
that  was  in  danger  of  being  destroyed. 

The  two  Mormon  teamsters  who  moved  him 
to  his  (old)  new  home  in  Brigham  for  the 
cash  were  disciplined  by  the  authorities  for 
the  crime.  The  first  year  especially  was  a 
year  of  great  trial.  Mrs.  Gillespie  was  ill 
but  was  unable  to  get  any  assistance  in  her 
home.  A  sympathizing  Mormon  sister 
finally  called  on  her  in  the  night  and  offered 
to  do  her  washing,  if  she  could  get  it  and 


52  THE    MORMONS 

return  it  after  dark.  This  arrangement 
brought  temporary  relief. 

When  the  missionary  came  to  preach  "he 
was  confronted  with  three  Mormons  and 
Mrs.  Gillespie,"  who  was  doubtless  in  the 
same  mood  as  was  the  wife  of  Whitfield 
when,  in  the  presence  of  the  mob,  she  plucked 
her  husband's  coat  and  said, 

"Play  the  man,  George,  for  your  God." 

At  any  rate  that  was  what  our  missionary 
did.  When  asked  by  the  deputy  sheriff  by 
what  authority  he  was  there  to  preach  he 
answered, 

"By  the  authority  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  exercising  the  rights  of  an  Amer- 
ican citizen." 

For  a  whole  year  Mr.  Gillespie  could  buy 
nothing  in  the  town  but  was  compelled  to  go 
back  to  Corinne  for  every  beefsteak  and 
pound  of  groceries.  The  bishop  proceeded 
to  pronounce  a  curse  upon  the  house,  the 
well,  the  garden,  and  all  the  premises  of  the 
missionary.  His  curse  proved  to  be  a  great 
fertilizer,  as  the  yield  of  vegetables  was 
unusually  large. 

Three  months  after  the  missionary  settled 
in  Brigham  he  opened  a  mission  school,  in 
September,  1878,  and  taught  the  school  him- 
self the  first  year.  The  next  year  his  sister. 
Miss   E.   F.   Gillespie,   assisted  him.      From 


THE    MORMONS  53 

the  opening  of  the  school,  twenty-five  years 
ago,  until  the  present  time  there  have  been 
efghteen  teachers,  a  noble  company  whose 
lives  have  helped  mould  the  lives  of  the 
young  people.  They  deserve  a  personal 
record  of  themselves  and  their  labors,  if 
there  were  space  to  give  it. 

The  church  was  organized  by  Mr.  Gilles- 
pie and  the  writer,  October  eighteenth,  1890. 
On  the  retirement  of  the  missionary,  October 
first,  1895,  the  church  was  vacant  for  two 
months,  after  which  Dr.  Rankin  took  charge 
of  the  work. 


CHAPTER    VI 

Silver  Rimmed  Valley — Discovering  a  Man — 
The  Seed — A  Visit — Possessing  the  Land^ 
Hyrum  Mission — Home  in  a  Garret — Rich- 
mond— No  Resumption — Scattered  Sheep — 
Teacher  Reduplicates  Herself — Mendon 
and    Wellsville. 

Religion  is  not  9  contagion.  It  is  a  life 
from  above.  Once  implanted  it  must  bear 
fruit.  "The  kingdom  of  God  is  like  unto 
leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three 
measures  of  meal,  until  the  whole  was  leav- 
ened." The  organization  of  churches  at 
Corinne,  Salt  Lake,  American  Fork,  with 
Sabbath  schools  and  mission  schools  at  Mt. 
Pleasant,  Manti,  and  other  points,  was  an 
indication  of  what  could  and  must  be  done  at 
other  important  places. 

Ogden  had  been  visited,  Brigham  had 
heard  the  music  of  the  gospel,  and  Logan 
lay  only  forty  miles  beyond,  over  the  divide, 
the  crown  of  Cache  County  and  Valley. 
Whoever  opens  his  eyes  on  Cache  Valley  in 
the  early  springtime  will  stop  and  gaze.  We 
call  it,  "The  Silver  Rimmed  Valley."  The 
54 


THE    MORMONS  55 

snow-capped  mountains  encircle  a  valley- 
thirty  or  forty  miles  long  and  from  ten  to 
twenty  miles  wide.  Through  the  valley  the 
Logan  and  the  Bear  Rivers  push  off  west- 
ward, to  find  the  deep  gorge  in  the  mountain, 
through  which  they  pour  out  into  Salt  Lake 
Valley,  and  are  lost  in  Great  Salt  Lake. 
These  streams  passing  through  Cache  Valley 
give  life  and  verdure  to  the  broad  acres. 

The  Mormon  explorers  early  discovered 
this  valley,  its  beauty  and  promise  of  fertil- 
ity, and  sent  in  their  settlers.  With  the  base 
of  operations  which  had  been  secured  at  Co- 
rinne  and  Salt  Lake  Dr.  Jackson  pushed  his 
investigations  on  northward  beyond  Ogden 
and  Brigham  into  Logan.  He  had  a  genius 
not  only  for  discovering  work  but  workers 
also.  Having  found  the  opportunity  at 
Logan  he  went  in  search  of  a  man  who  had 
grace  and  wisdom  enough  to  know  an  oppor- 
tunity at  sight.  He  found  the  man  in  the 
Metropolitan  Church  at  Washington  City— 
not  in  the  pulpit  but  in  the  pew.  After  he 
had  made  his  plea  for  help  before  the  con- 
gregation he  went  into  the  Sabbath  school, 
which  is  always  a  good  place  to  find  the  best 
material  for  the  best  service. 

He  discovered  Mr.  Calvin  M.  Parks  teach- 
ing a  large  Bible  class  of  young  ladies,  while 
his  wife  and  daughter  had  an  infant  class  of 


56  THE    MORMONS 

between  three  and  four  hundred.  At  the 
close  of  the  Sabbath  school  Mr.  Parks  was 
informed  by  the  synodical  missionary  that  he 
was  needed  in  Utah;  and  that  his  work  was 
there,  not  to  teach,  but  to  preach  the  gospel; 
and  that  he  should  prepare  himself  for  that 
work.  Mr.  Parks  was  obedient  to  the  heav- 
enly calling,  was  soon  licensed  to  preach  the 
gospel,  was  dismissed  to  the  Presbytery  of 
Utah,  and  on  the  fifth  of  July,  1878,  like 
Abraham, 

"By  faith  he,  when  he  was  called  to  go  out 
into  a  place  which  he  should  after  receive  for 
an  inheritance,  obeyed;  and  he  went  out  not 
knowing  whither  he  went." 

He  found  the  place,  however,  as  every  man 
does  who  obeys  the  call  of  God,  and  in  due 
time  he  was  located  in  the  beautiful  little  city 
of  Logan.  He  secured  a  "furniture  ware- 
room,  and  paint  shop  back  of  it,"  which  was 
soon  transformed  into  a  "chapel,  school-room, 
study,  bed-chambers,  parlor,  kitchen,  and 
hall." 

Early  in  September  the  little  mission  school 
was  opened  with  six  pupils.  It  was  a  begin- 
ning, and  as  nothing  ever  proceeds  without 
beginning  something  had  been  achieved. 
For  two  years  the  teaching  was  carried  on  in 
this  building  while  the  machinery  overhead 
was  keeping  up  a  brisk  rivalry.    The  Sabbath 


THE    MORMONS  57 

preaching  and  Sabbath  school  were  twins, 
born  on  the  same  day,  and  grew  up  together. 
Mr.  Parks  was  ordained  at  the  first  meeting 
of  Presbytery.  And  a  church  of  eleven  mem- 
bers was  organized  on  the  tenth  of  December, 
1878. 

That  small  beginning  with  six  pupils  was 
the  seed  that  has  grown  to  be  the  New  Jersey 
Academy,  with  its  five  teachers,  matron, 
boarding  department,  and  more  than  a  hun- 
dred pupils.  Principal  T.  N.  Smith,  for 
eighteen  years  a  mission  teacher,  is  leading 
that  host.  That  primitive  chapel  with  its 
uncouth  surroundings  has  passed  away, 
though  the  precious  memories  of  what  was 
wrought  there  can  never  vanish.  In  its  stead 
is  the  church  building  filled  with  devout  wor- 
shippers. A  comfortable  manse  also  fur- 
nishes a  pastor's  home.  Starting  with  the 
six  members,  over  two  hundred  souls  have 
registered  their  vows  at  God's  altar.  "Be- 
hold, what  God  hath  wrought!"  But  how 
was  it  done?  No  one  may  write  the  story  of 
toil,  prayer,  and  Christian  life  wrought  into 
the  material  and  spiritual  structure  that  to- 
day bears  witness  to  the  faithfulness  of  God 
to  every  word  he  hath  spoken. 

The  missionary  women  of  the  Synod  of 
New  Jersey  put  their  hearts  and  hands  to 
the  work.      They   well   remember   how   they 


58  THE    MORMONS 

secured  the  eleven  thousand  dollars  that  gave 
to  our  consecrated  teachers  the  academy  in 
which  their  Christian  educational  work  is 
going  forward  to-day. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Kendall  visited  our  mission 
while  it  and  the  missionaries  were  housed  in 
the  old  furniture  shop.  The  missionaries 
welcomed  the  visitors^  hoping  that  the  sight 
of  the  illy  adapted  quarters  would  move  their 
friends  to  secure  something  better.  One  of 
the  teachers  says — 

"Our  hearts  sank  within  us  when  Mrs. 
Kendall,  on  bidding  us  good-by,  said — "  *I 
am  glad  you  have  such  a  comfortable  and 
sweet  little  home.*  '* 

Dr.  Kendall's  visit,  however,  was  not  with- 
out results ;  indeed  it  never  was,  wherever  he 
went.  In  due  time  the  money  came  to  build 
a  chapel  with  permission  to  save  as  much 
as  possible  to  be  put  into  building  a  parson- 
age. Mr.  Parks  knew  what  that  meant  and 
how  to  achieve  the  end.  From  the  cullings  of 
the  chapel,  by  the  skill  of  the  missionary, 
the  parsonage  came  forth  in  condition  to  re- 
ceive the  missionary  and  family,  until  fur- 
ther means  could  be  secured  to  complete  it. 

The  chapel  and  the  manse  came  and  with 
them  came  the  increase  of  pupils  and  the 
enlargement  of  the  missionary  work  in  every 
direction. 


THE    MORMONS  59 

The  valley  lay  open  and  inviting  before 
Mr.  Parks.  The  hungry  people,  who  had 
been  deceived  by  Mormonism  and  had  found 
it  to  be  a  delusion  and  a  snare,  heard  of  the 
coming  of  the  missionaries.  A  Swedish 
woman  living  six  miles  away,  in  the  to^vn  of 
Millville,  who  could  not  understand  a  word 
of  English,  came  on  foot  with  her  two  little 
boys  to  see  a  Christian  minister  and  hear  the 
sound  of  a  voice  that  spoke  the  truth.  This 
attracted  the  attention  of  Mr.  Parks  to  the 
outlying  towns  in  the  valley.  He  had  doubt- 
less felt  the  inspiration  of  God's  promise  to 
Joshua, 

"Every  place  that  the  sole  of  your  foot 
shall  tread  upon,  that  have  I  given  unto  you." 

Acting  upon  it,  he  went  forth  to  recon- 
noitre. The  result  of  his  investigation  con- 
vinced him  that  the  whole  valley  was  his 
parish.  He  pushed  forward  until  he  had 
completed  the  building  of  seven  chapels  out- 
side of  Logan  in  the  valley.  These  chapels 
were  located  at  Millville,  Hyrum,  Wells- 
ville,  Mendon,  Smithfield,  Franklin,  and 
Richmond. 

INIission  schools  were  opened  in  these  towns 
and  the  message  of  divine  love  went  forth 
in  due  time. 

Mr.  Parks,  his  wife  and  daughter,  now 
Mrs,  Shorten,  accomplished  a  great  work,  not 


60  THE    MORMONS 

only  laying  foundations  but  building  on  the 
same.  One  of  his  fellow  presbyters,  who 
was  intimately  associated  with  these  mission- 
aries and  their  toil,  writes  of  them: 

"They  were  a  most  interesting  and  efficient 
trio  of  Christian  workers.  Hardly  any  one 
could  pass  Mr.  Parks  in  the  street  without 
turning  to  take  a  second  look  at  him,  he  was 
such  a  specimen  of  a  man  physically,  stand- 
ing six  feet  and  four  inches  high,  and  well 
proportioned.  All  three  were  fine  singers, 
and  in  addition  Mrs.  Shorten  played  well 
either  on  the  piano  or  organ,  while  Mr. 
Parks  was  a  fine  choir  and  chorus  leader; 
and  there  was  scarcely  any  kind  of  Christian 
work  or  household  or  mechanical  work  that 
some  one  of  them  could  not  do." 

The  foundations  were  well  laid  in  our 
Christian  educational  work  in  Logan,  both  in 
school  and  church.  As  a  token  of  God's 
favor,  we  have  as  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Logan  to-day,  and  for  the  last  nine  years, 
one  of  our  strong  preachers,  the  Rev.  N.  E. 
Clemenson,  who  was  brought  out  of  Mormon- 
ism  in  his  early  manhood.  He  stands  as  a 
tower  of  strength,  witnessing  to  the  value  of 
home  mission  work  in  Utah,  and  contributing 
all  of  his  powers  to  advance  it. 

Miss  Carrie  Nutting  opened  the  mission 
school  at  Hyrum  in  the  autumn  of  1881.    Mr. 


THE    MORMONS  61 

Parks  secured  a  home  mission  appointment 
for  the  Rev.  Philip  T.  Bohback  a  few  weeks 
later.  He  came  to  bring  the  gospel  to  the 
Scandinavian  people  in  their  own  tongue. 
Mr.  Bohback  was  given  the  care  of  the  three 
missions,  Hyrum,  Wellsville,  and  Millville, 
and  the  preaching  was  conducted  in  Eng- 
lish, Swedish,  and  Danish.  This  involved 
the  preparation  for,  and  attendance  on  twenty 
services  per  month.  The  church  was  organ- 
ized at  Hyrum  June  nineteenth,  1887j,  with 
thirteen  members,  several  of  them  coming  in 
from  Millville.  Forty-eight  members  have 
been  received  into  the  church,  gathered  out 
of  Mormonism.  Two  of  the  pupils  from  the 
mission  school  at  Hyrum  have  gone  through 
colleges  in  the  East.  Several  others  have 
gone  through  our  academies.  In  the  later 
history  of  this  mission  Mr.  Bohback's  labors 
were  confined  to  Hyrum  and  Millville.  With 
great  fidelity,  kindness,  and  persistence,  his 
toil  continued  for  twenty-one  years,  until  the 
loss  of  health  made  it  necessary  for  him  to 
retire. 

Each  of  these  seven  missions  has  had  a 
distinctive  history.  At  Smithfield,  six  miles 
north  of  Logan,  Mr.  Parks  was  not  able  to 
secure  property  favorably  located  for  the 
mission.  The  chapel  had  to  be  constructed 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  town  at  an  inconven- 


62  THE    MORMONS 

icnt  distance  from  the  families  which  it  was 
lioped  could  be  reached.  The  first  teacher 
that  came  was  unable  to  find  a  home  among 
the  people  that  would  provide  her  with  any 
of  the  comforts  of  life.  She  finally  rented  a 
low  garret  of  a  log  cabin^,  with  an  outside 
entrance  through  a  gable  window.  This  was 
reached  by  a  ladder  from  the  ground,  which 
for  the  personal  safety  of  the  teacher  was 
pulled  into  the  attic  after  it  had  been  used. 
During  the  last  year  a  lot  has  been  pur- 
chased in  the  central  part  of  the  town,  with 
the  hope  that  our  mission  may  be  provided 
with  a  building  at  an  early  day,  and  enter 
more  successfully  upon  its  work.  The  gospel 
was  preached  by  the  Rev.  James  Thompson, 
for  eight  years,  and  later  by  the  Rev. 
Charles  May.  At  present  the  Rev.  Charles 
E.  Hamilton  is  toiling  among  the  people. 
Souls  have  been  won  to  the  Master.  Many 
of  the  young  people  have  been  trained  under 
the  influence  of  the  Christian  teachers  that 
have  gone  to  them,  and  some  of  them  are  now 
filling  important  official  positions  in  the 
church  of  Christ. 

The  mission  at  Richmond  has  never  devel- 
oped into  a  church.  The  mission  school  was 
closed  for  some  years.  It  has  always  been 
found  easier  to  close  a  mission  than  to  open 
it.     It  is  always  dangerous  to  lose  the  force 


THE    MORMONS  C3 

of  momentum  for  when  lost  it  must  be  cre- 
ated again,  which  is  an  expensive  business. 
Richmond  is  a  town  of  over  a  thousand  popu- 
lation, and  is  six  miles  north  of  Smithfield. 
It  has  always  been  connected  as  a  station 
with  Smithfield.  It  is  solidly  Mormon,  and 
the  young  people  are  carefully  guarded,  lest 
they  should  stray  into  Christian  pastures. 

Franklin  is  our  next  mission,  about  eight 
miles  north  of  Richmond,  just  over  the  line 
in  Idaho.  At  one  time  a  small  church  was 
organized  and  provided  with  gospel  preach- 
ing by  the  Home  Mission  Board.  But  finan- 
cial embarrassment  of  the  Board's  treasury 
several  years  ago  resulted  in  leaving  the  peo- 
ple "as  sheep  without  a  shepherd."  "The 
way  to  resume  is  to  resume,"  but  resumption 
has  not  been  possible  at  Franklin.  This 
town,  being  in  Idaho,  was  the  Botany  Bay 
for  Utah  polygamists  during  the  execution 
of  the  Edmunds-Tucker  law.  The  plural 
wives  were  concealed  beyond  the  State  line, 
until  the  Government  was  deluded  into  grant- 
ing statehood,  when  they  returned  to  their 
old  haunts,  and  kept  open  house  for  their 
persecuted  husbands. 

The  mission  school,  however,  kept  the 
lights  burning  in  Franklin.  Conspicuous 
among  the  teachers  who  held  the  fort,  was 
Miss  Anna  Noble,  who  for  twenty-six  years 


64  THE    MORMONS 

has  given  her  life  to  mission  work,  and  who 
has  considered  it  her  privilege  to  reduplicate 
her  own  life  by  taking  into  her  home  some 
promising  child  and  training  her  for  Christ 
and  his  work.  Miss  Theresa  Stalker,  one  of 
her  earlier  pupils,  after  graduating  at  Kala- 
mazoo Seminary  in  Michigan,  has  devoted  her 
regenerated  life  to  the  uplift  of  her  people. 
It  is  one  of  the  blessed  compensations  of  this 
arduous  toil  of  years,  that  the  teacher's  life 
goes  on  with  accumulated  moral  values,  in 
the  lites  of  others  who  have  been  led  into 
the  Kingdom. 

Miss  Harriett  E.  Elliott  is  carrying  for- 
ward the  same  work  as  her  predecessors  and 
by  gathering  the  young  people  and  furnish- 
ing them  with  good  reading  and  pure  social 
surroundings  is  accomplishing  a  most  valu- 
able work. 

The  other  two  chapels  in  the  Silver 
Rimmed  Valley  are  Mendon  and  Wellsville. 
Our  early  occupation  at  Mendon  brought 
Miss  McCracken,  the  teacher,  serious  trial. 
Her  room  was  connected  with  the  chapel. 
While  alone  at  night  several  young  men  de- 
manded admittance  but  were  refused.  They 
broke  into  the  house.  The  teacher  fled  from 
her  bed  in  her  night  dress  to  the  nearest 
neighbor.  The  nervous  shock  so  affected  her 
that   she   was   unable   to   resume   her   work. 


THE    MORMONS  65 

The  young  men  were  arrested  and  fined. 
Subsequent  teachers  were  not  seriously  dis- 
turbed. The  Rev.  William  R.  Campbell  and 
his  wife  were  put  in  charge  of  the  work  in 
later  years.  ISIr.  Campbell  was  made  of 
Scotch  stuffy  and  that  fact  together  with  what 
came  of  it  soon  produced  a  great  calm.  Mr. 
Campbell  for  ten  years  or  more  preached  at 
Mendon  and  Wellsville,  while  Mrs.  Camp- 
bell carried  on  the  school  with  occasional  as- 
sistance from  her  husband.  While  there  was 
no  church  organized  in  either  of  these  mis- 
sions they  bore  fruit  in  the  education  and 
conversion  of  souls.  Out  of  the  work  at 
Mendon  came  three  valuable  mission  teach- 
ers, who  have  been  aiding  us  for  several  years. 
An  elder  in  our  church  at  Logan  was  led  into 
the  truth  and  light  by  our  mission  work  at 
Mendon. 

In  earlier  days  our  mission  at  Wellsville 
furnished  employment  for  two  teachers;  but 
as  our  teaching  force  was  cut  down  the  num- 
ber of  pupils  diminished,  and  in  recent  years 
other  forms  of  missionary  work  have  been 
connected  with  the  school. 


CHAPTER    VII 

Across  the  Line — A  Log  Cabin — "Must  Obey 
IN  All  Things"— Missionary  All-over-ness 
— ^Printer's  Ink — Another  Church — Utiliz- 
ing the  Kitchen— Montpelier — ^The  Germ 
Developed — ^The  Refuge — Under  a  Dirt 
Roof — Rowdyism — Progress — The  Woman  of 
Samaria — ^Through  Tribul.'S.tion — Courage — 
Some  Discoveries. 

The  story  of  home  mission  work  in  Utah 
would  not  be  complete  without  crossing  the 
line  into  southern  Idaho.  It  has  already  been 
stated  that  during  the  execution  of  the  Ed- 
munds-Tucker law  against  the  polygamists 
of  Utah  many  of  them  removed  their  wives 
into  southern  Idaho,  and  on  occasion  fled 
thither  themselves.  The  southern  tier  of 
counties  is  as  solidly  Mormon  as  Utah.  In 
the  State  of  Idaho  are  more  than  fifteen 
thousand  Mormons  that  have  to  be  reckoned 
with  by  the  political  parties.  They  hold  the 
balance  of  political  power,  and  use  it  as 
opportunity  offers. 

Hence  our  Home  Mission  Board  has  wisely 
planted  several  important  stations  in  that 
66 


THE    MORMONS  67 

State.  The  earliest  of  these  was  opened  at 
Montpelier,  in  Bear  Lake  County,  during  the 
year  1884.  A  building  was  erected  under 
the  supervision  of  Dr.  G.  W.  Martin  (who 
was  superintending  the  work  at  that  time), 
both  for  school  purposes  and  as  a  house  of 
worship.  School  was  opened  in  December  of 
that  year  by  Miss  Frances  E.  Baker  who  was 
the  pioneer  missionary  in  the  county. 

In  the  same  year  Dr.  Martin  succeeded  in 
purchasing  a  lot  with  a  small  log  cabin  in 
Paris,  the  county  seat  of  Bear  Lake  County. 
This  purchase  was  made  for  the  purpose  of 
erecting  a  house  of  worship.  The  people  in 
the  county  at  that  time  were  almost  all  Mor- 
mons, hence  the  purchase  of  this  lot  from  an 
apostate  was  an  achievement  of  considerable 
importance  to  our  work,  as  the  Mormon 
hierarchy  was  very  anxious  that  their  re- 
ligious, political,  and  business  plans  should 
not  be  disturbed.  They  dreaded  the  type  of 
Christianity  that  had  the  reputation  of  "turn- 
ing the  world  upside  down." 

Paris  was  the  headquarters  of  the  Bear 
Lake  Stake  of  the  Mormon  Church.  The 
president  of  the  stake,  a  much-married  polyg- 
amist,  and  his  counsellors  reside  here.  Hence 
the  people  are  immediately  under  the  eye  of 
those  whom  they  "must  obey  in  both  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  matters." 


68  THE    MORMONS 

In  March,  1885,  the  Rev.  R.  P.  Boyd  with 
his  wife  settled  in  Paris.  He  was  under  ap- 
pointment of  the  Board  in  New  York.  This 
position  was  taken  because  of  the  heavy  Mor- 
mon population  in  southeastern  Idaho.  It 
was  accepted  as  wise  to  deal  with  the  foun- 
tain rather  than  the  stream.  The  dominance 
of  the  Church  was  less  marked  at  Montpelier 
than  at  Paris.  Said  a  Mormon  friend  to  the 
missionary, 

"You  people  had  better  remain  here  at 
Montpelier,  instead  of  going  to  Paris,  because 
the  people  of  Paris  are  obliged  to  do  as  they 
are  told  while  the  people  of  Montpelier  do 
as  they  please." 

With  financial  aid  from  Christian  friends 
in  Pennsylvania,  Mr.  Boyd  fitted  up  the  "log 
cabin"  in  Paris  as  a  place  of  worship,  and 
preached  there  and  at  ^lontpelier.  He  also 
visited  and  preached  at  almost  all  the  towns 
in  the  valley.  With  so  large  a  field  to  look 
after,  Mr.  Boyd  early  began  to  use  the 
printed  page  in  evangelistic  work.  He  has 
continued  the  use  of  the  press,  publishing 
nine  tracts,  dealing  directly  with  the  Mor- 
mon system — such  as  "Vital  Questions," 
"Biblical  Priesthood,"  "Pre-existence  of 
Spirits,"  "The  Mormon  God  not  the  God  of 
the  Bible,"  and  others.  Many  of  these  were 
published  at  his  own  expense. 


THE    MORMONS  69 

Our  chapel  was  erected  in  the  summer  of 
1888,  and  the  "log  cabin"  was  transformed 
into  a  teacher's  home  of  primitive  style. 
The  Christian  people  of  Cedar  Rapids  and 
vicinity  came  again  to  the  rescue,  aided  by 
the  Westminster  Presbytery  of  Pennsylvania. 
A  church  was  organized  on  the  thirteenth  of 
March,  1892,  with  eight  members.  The  total 
number  received  to  date  is  thirty-four. 

The  mission  school  work  was  inaugurated 
by  Mrs.  Boyd  without  compensation  from  the 
Board.  It  was  conducted  partly  in  her 
kitchen  and  then  in  the  "log  cabin."  In  the 
early  autumn  of  1888  the  Board  commis- 
sioned ]\Iiss  Mattie  White  who  labored  for 
eleven  years  and  left  the  impress  of  her 
service  upon  the  young  people  of  the  com- 
munity. 

Miss  Theresa  Stalker,  one  of  Miss  Noble's 
spiritual  children,  and  Miss  Linn  came  later 
into  the  work,  which  is  now  carried  on  by 
Miss  Kate  Taylor,  a  recent  graduate  of  Park 
College.  Although  a  large  number  of  con- 
verts has  not  been  enrolled,  it  is  not  possible 
to  tabulate  or  measure  the  influence  of  the 
missionary  and  his  teachers  in  clearing  the 
moral  atmosphere,  moulding  the  sentiment 
and  habits  of  the  people,  and  making  it 
possible  for  the  young  people  to  move 
toward  a  higher  ideal  of  life. 


70  THE    MORMONS 

While  this  transformation  was  taking  place 
at  Paris,,  the  more  accessible  town  of  Mont- 
pelier  was  receiving  new  light.  In  the 
change  of  teachers^  it  was  a  fortunate  ad- 
justment that  brought  together  there  Miss 
Mary  Crowell  and  ISIiss  Lottie  Leonard  in 
our  mission  school.  With  a  steady  enthusi- 
asm and  fine  tact  they  took  firm  hold  of  the 
community  and  built  up  a  large  school.  A 
church  organization  was  the  outcome,  on 
April  twenty-first,  1889.  There  have  been 
received  into  the  church  since  that  date  one 
hundred  and  eighty  members.  The  work 
outgrew  the  old  first  chapel,  and  a  substan- 
tial stone  building  was  erected  and  dedi- 
cated by  the  writer  December  thirty-first, 
1893,  during  the  ministry  of  the  Rev. 
George  Lamb.  He  was  succeeded  by  the 
Rev.  C.  O.  Mudge  who  did  a  very  effective 
work  until  failing  health  necessitated  his 
retirement  to  southern  California.  The  mis- 
sion school  was  the  germ  that  developed  into 
the  church.  The  older  members  of  the  church 
have  not  ceased  to  regard  the  Misses  Crowell 
and  Leonard  as  the  builders  who  wrought, 
without  sound  of  hammer,  in  the  spiritual 
structure  which  to-day  blesses  the  town  of 
Montpelier. 

In  the  autumn  of  1877,  the  missionary  at 
Corinne  was   invited  to  preach  part  of  the 


THE    MORMONS  71 

time  at  Malad  City,  fifty  miles  or  more  north 
of  Corinne.  That  town  is  the  county  seat  of 
Oneida  County  in  southern  Idaho.  It  was 
the  refuge  of  the  men  and  their  families  that 
had  fled  from  the  tyranny  and  danger  at 
Brigham.  The  ruling  power  in  Brigham,  as 
we  have  seen,  had  been  in  the  hands  of  one 
man.  From  that  oppression  men  sought  to 
escape.  But  Brigham  Young  sent  into  Malad 
his  new  arrivals  from  abroad  in  order  to  hold 
ecclesiastical  control. 

In  March,  1878,  the  Rev.  Edward  Welch 
was  appointed  to  the  mission  at  Malad  City, 
which  he  conducted  for  two  years.  His  sister 
began  school  work.  On  the  failure  of  his 
health  he  returned  to  Ohio,  and  died  some 
years  later.  Our  school  was  conducted  in  a 
log  house  with  a  dirt  roof,  a  most  wretched 
affair  exposing  the  school  to  storm  and  rain. 
Miss  Carrie  Farrand  was  at  this  time  attempt- 
ing the  impossible — that  was,  to  do  credit- 
able work  in  such  a  habitation.  It  is  needless 
to  sketch  the  rowdyism  of  the  young  men, 
their  drinking,  carousing,  and  threatening 
behavior  toward  our  teacher  and  her  pupils. 
Her  courage  and  strength  finally  failed. 
The  Rev.  E.  M.  Knox  and  wife  succeeded 
Miss  Farrand,  and  took  up  the  work  with 
earnest  enthusiasm.  During  the  four  years 
of  his  stay  he  succeeded  in  erecting  on  a  fine 


72  THE    MORMONS 

site  a  commodious  brick  chapel  and  manse. 
The  congregation  grew  rapidly  reaching 
about  two  hundred.  Mr.  Knox's  two  sisters 
came  into  the  school  work  and  more  than  a 
hundred  pupils  came  under  their  influence. 
A  church  was  organized  and  the  gospel  has 
been  preached,  with  only  slight  intermission, 
until  the  present  time. 

During  the  progress  of  the  work  at  Malad 
City  a  mission  school  building  was  erected  at 
Samaria  and  a  mission  school  was  gathered 
by  Miss  Baker,  who  had  opened  our  work  at 
Montpelier.  This  school  has  continued  till 
the  present,  with  several  changes  of  teachers. 
It  is  held  as  a  station  in  connection  with 
Malad  City  and  is  supplied  by  the  minister 
of  that  place. 

The  church  at  Malad  City  hag  passed 
through  the  usual  experience  of  our  Mormon 
work.  Times  of  refreshing  have  brought 
enlargement,  followed  by  the  depletion  re- 
sulting from  the  financial  and  social  ostracism 
that  the  Mormon  Church  is  always  able  to 
bring  to  bear  upon  those  who  turn  from  that 
system.  Christian  families  often  find  it  neces- 
sary to  seek  new  homes  beyond  the  domina- 
tion of  Mormon  influence  in  order  to  secure 
a  living.  Such  influences  have  been  pressed 
upon  converts  at  Malad  City.  On  the  other 
hand   we    have   courageous    souls    that   have 


THE    MORMONS  73 

stood  their  ground,  and  "come  up  out  of 
great  tribulation." 

It  was  our  privilege  a  few  years  ago  to 
ordain  an  elder  in  the  church  at  Malad,  who 
had  the  courage  to  assert  himself  in  the  days 
when  life  was  in  peril.  He  had  been  a  high 
priest  in  the  INIormon  organization,  a  man  of 
influence.  He  was  a  reader,  and  did  what 
not  many  Mormons  do — he  read.  He  read 
their  own  books,  and  current  history  and  lit- 
erature. Comparing  the  Mormon  books  with 
the  Scriptures  lie  made  some  important  dis- 
coveries. Among  these  was  the  fact  that  all 
of  Joseph  Smith's  revelations  were  in  favor 
of  his  personal  and  financial  interests,  for 
the  gratification  of  his  ambition  for  power, 
or  his  lusts.     This  gentleman  said, 

"I  read  myself  out  of  the  Mormon 
Church." 

Having  reached  his  conclusions  he  called 
his  official  brethren  together,  informed  them 
of  his  purpose,  and  resigned  his  position  as 
high  priest.  He  was  urged,  coaxed,  and 
threatened.  The  bishop  warned  him,  in- 
timating that  dire  consequences  might  follow. 
The  gentleman  replied, 

"I  live  here  and  shall  live  here,  and  will 
take  care  of  my  own  life." 

He  did  what  he  proposed  to  do.  He  be- 
came a  Christian,  and  an  elder  in  our  church. 


74  THE    MORMONS 

Those  days  of  personal  danger  are  passed, 
but  the  priesthood  finds  ways  to  embarrass 
and  intimidate  those  of  their  own  people  who 
seek  that  liberty  wherewith  God  makes  us 
free. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

First  Awakening — A  Spe.\king  Monument  — 
Tired  of  Husks— Holding  the  Fort— The 
Memorial — "  Eternal  Vigilance  " — A  Line 
of  Light — ^The  Old  Flag — In  the  Pulpit — 
First  Sermon  Preached — Back  to  the  Hut. 

While  the  Home  Mission  Board  was  ex- 
tending its  work  into  the  southern  tier  of 
counties  of  Idaho,  the  Synodical  Missionary, 
Dr.  McMillan,  was  pushing  the  work  into 
southern  Utah.  Churches  and  mission  schools 
had  been  organized  at  Mt.  Pleasant, 
Ephraim,  and  Manti,  and  as  far  back  as  No- 
vember, 1877,  Dr.  McMillan  preached  at 
Monroe,  in  Sevier  Valley.  He  purchased  a 
small  frame  building,  for  church  and  school 
purposes.  Miss  Wheeler  entered  upon  her 
educational  duties,  opening  a  mission  school. 
The  work  has  been  followed  up  by  able  and 
successful  teachers.  After  some  years  a  fine 
stone  chapel  was  erected,  furnishing  two 
school-rooms  that  can  be  thrown  together  by 
folding  doors.  For  many  years  two  teachers 
carried  on  the  mission,  exerting  a  most  salu- 
tary influence. 

15 


76  THE    MORMONS 

Two  of  the  young  ladies  educated  in  the 
school  came  out  of  Mormonism,  became 
Christians,  entered  Park  College,  and  were 
graduated.  They  have  both  served  for  a 
time  as  mission  school  teachers,  and  are  now 
making  homes  that  "give  hostages  to  the 
state." 

One  of  the  judges  now  on  the  supreme 
bench  of  the  State,  who  is  a  loyal  American, 
came  from  a  Mormon  family.  He  got  his 
first  educational  awakening  in  the  mission 
school  at  Monroe.  As  a  judge,  he  has  fear- 
lessly executed  the  law  against  polygamists 
and  polygamous  cohabitation.  Under  the 
direction  of  the  present  Synodical  Mission- 
ary, a  very  convenient  home  has  been  erected 
for  the  teachers. 

The  teachers  who  have  toiled  at  Monroe 
have  borne  a  noble  part  in  giving  the  truth 
to  the  people.  Miss  Alice  Palmer  gave  her- 
self devotedly  to  the  families  represented  in 
her  school,  and  after  years  of  service  was 
attacked  with  pneumonia  which  terminated 
her  life.  She  asked  to  be  buried  among 
those  whom  she  loved  and  to  whose  spiritual 
welfare  she  had  consecrated  her  life.  And 
her  plain  monument  is  to-day  a  silent  witness 
to  her  devotion  to  her  Master  and  to  the  peo- 
ple for  whom  she  had  toiled.  She  "being 
dead  yet  speaketh."     The  influence  of  her 


THE    MORMONS  77 

teaching  and  life  can  never  be  lost.  The  mis- 
sion is  still  carried  forward. 

In  September,  1880,  a  fine  location  for  a 
mission  was  secured  in  the  centre  of  the  town 
of  Richfield,  the  county  seat  of  Sevier 
County,  from  a  family  that  had  abandoned 
the  Mormon  faith.  The  adobe  house  on  the 
premises  was  temporarily  used  for  all  the 
purposes  of  the  mission,  for  teaching  and 
preaching.  Its  unfitness,  however,  for  the 
needs  of  the  mission  drove  the  missionaries  to 
the  effort  which  resulted  in  a  substantial 
stone  building,  with  capacity  for  a  large 
school  demanding  two  teachers.  As  long  as 
we  were  able  to  have  two  teachers  the  school 
was  full  to  its  utmost  capacity,  but  when  the 
retrenchment  came  our  patrons  concluded  that 
we  were  preparing  to  close  our  educational 
efforts.  The  usual  depletion  followed.  The 
one  teacher  still  continues  her  mission. 

There  came  a  time  in  the  history  of  the 
mission  when  it  was  manifest  that  a  church 
should  be  organized.  The  people  desired  it. 
They  had  tired  of  the  husks  on  which  they 
had  formerly  fed,  and  had  learned  to  relish 
the  manna  of  the  Word.  They  prepared  a 
petition  to  Presbytery  for  an  organization, 
and  thirteen  signed  it.  Before  the  Presby- 
tery held  its  next  regular  meeting,  our  Meth- 
odii?t   brethren   went   into   the    field,   held   a 


78  THE    MORMONS 

meeting,  and  took  the  prospective  Presby- 
terians into  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

This  necessitated  a  delay.  Our  services  in 
the  pulpit  and  in  the  school  were  continued, 
and  God  gave  us  others,  and  on  November 
sixth,  1890,  a  Presbyterian  Church  was  organ- 
ized. Fifty-seven  members  have  been  added 
to  our  little  flock.  Polygamy  and  polyga- 
mous cohabitation  have  never  been  entirely 
eradicated,  though  several  of  the  criminals 
have  been  dealt  with  according  to  law.  Fla- 
grant cases  are  known  to  all  the  citizens.  Our 
ministers  have  never  lowered  the  standard  of 
Christian  teaching  and  life.  The  Rev.  J.  H. 
Meteer,  who  commanded  a  company  of  col- 
ored troops  during  the  war,  has  been  holding 
the  fort  for  years. 

Salina  is  eighteen  miles  north  of  Rich- 
field, in  the  same  county.  It  has  been  re- 
garded as  less  under  the  domination  of  the 
priesthood  than  most  of  the  towns.  Dr. 
McMillan  enlisted  the  interest  of  Mrs. 
Crosby  of  New  York  City.  Her  only  daugh- 
ter had  been  called  to  a  higher  service  in 
the  presence  of  her  Master.  Mrs.  Crosby 
conceived  the  idea  of  building  a  memorial 
for  her  beloved  absent  one,  and  as  there 
was  no  place  where  such  a  memorial  would 
be  worth  as  much  to  the  living  as  in  Utah, 
she  decided  to  build  a  chapel  at  Salina.     It 


THE    MORMONS  79 

would  be  a  fountain  of  blessing  for  all  time 
to  come.  Hence  in  1884<  this  memorial  took 
the  form  of  a  durable  stone  chapel.  A  young 
man  had  opened  a  school  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility. When  the  building  was  completed 
a  mission  school  was  formally  opened.  Miss 
Curry,  from  Mt.  Sterling,  Illinois,  entered 
this  service  and  continued  it  for  two  years, 
while  nearing  the  end  of  her  earthly  journey; 
then  she  returned  to  her  home — and  the 
Home  beyond. 

The  mission  school  has  gone  on  without  a 
break,  with  two  teachers,  for  all  the  years. 
The  memorial  tablet  in  the  wall  of  the  chapel 
is  a  perpetual  reminder  to  the  pupils  and  the 
Sabbath  audience  of  that  love  which  gives 
itself  for  the  salvation  of  the  lost.  And  still 
the  message  goes  out  from  that  pulpit — "He 
came  to  seek  and  to  save  the  lost." 

The  Rev.  P.  D.  Stoops  began  preaching 
the  gospel  at  Salina  in  1890,  and  spent  four 
years  in  ministering  to  the  people.  During 
those  years  the  writer  spent  four  weeks  in 
daily  meetings  in  the  church,  assisting  the 
minister.  The  Rev.  N.  E.  Clemenson  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Stoops  in  February,  1894,  and 
remained  until  August.  Later  he  was  called 
to  Logan,  where  he  still  continues  as  pastor. 

In  June,  1894,  a  church  of  twelve  mem- 
bers was  organized.     After  months  without 


80  THE    MORMONS 

a  minister  the  Rev.  E.  L.  Anderson  came  to 
the  church  and  remained  three  or  four  years. 
The  Rev.  Joseph  Taylor  Britain  came  later 
from  Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  giving 
excellent  promise  of  success,  but  was  obliged 
to  relinquish  his  work  on  account  of  his 
health  after  a  little  more  than  a  year. 

The  church  at  Salina  has  suffered  greatly 
by  reason  of  the  brief  terms  of  ministerial 
service.  There  is  probably  no  place  in  our 
broad  land  where  the  little  mission  churches 
need  such  constant  shepherding  as  here  in 
Utah.  The  unsettled  condition  of  frontier 
towns,  the  social  and  financial  pressure  of  the 
ruling  ecclesiastical  powers,  the  surrounding 
low  standard  of  morals,  combine  to  demand 
"Eternal  vigilance"  on  the  part  of  those  who 
watch  for  souls.  The  Macedonian  cry  that  is 
constantly  going  out  from  our  small  and 
needy  mission  churches,  meets  with  such  in- 
frequent responses  that  we  are  unable  to  pre- 
vent the  constant  depletion  of  our  member- 
ship. Yet  still  we  must  entreat  our  younger 
ministers  to  come  to  our  help. 

Fifteen  miles  north  of  Salina  is  the  town 
of  Gunnison,  named  after  Captain  Gunni- 
son, who  was  murdered  in  Sevier  Valley  in 
November,  1853.  With  a  population  of  a 
thousand,  the  town  is  located  at  the  point 
where  the  San  Pete  and  Sevier  Valleys  join. 


THE    MORMONS  81 

Richfield,  Salina,  and  Gunnison  are  all  on  a 
branch  of  the  Rio  Grande  Western  Railroad, 
and  are  easily  accessible  from  Salt  Lake  City 
or  any  part  of  the  State.  This  mode  of 
travel  was  not  known  to  the  missionaries  of 
Dr.  McMillan's  time,  but  is  a  luxury  pleas- 
antly thrust  on  us  who  have  entered  into  the 
labor  in  recent  years.  The  missionary,  tak- 
ing the  train  at  Salt  Lake  City  in  the  morn- 
ing, can  prepare  his  Sunday  school  lesson, 
and  sermon  for  the  next  day,  if  need  be, 
before  reaching  any  of  these  missions. 

Miss  Mary  Crowell,  whose  name  and  toil 
entered  into  our  success  at  Mt.  Pleasant  and 
Montpelier,  opened  the  mission-school  work 
at  Gunnison  in  May,  1881,  in  very  limited 
apartments  belonging  to  Mrs.  Christenson. 
Later  our  Board  secured  the  present  lot  with 
a  diminutive  log  hut,  in  which  the  school 
was  temporarily  housed  and  tended.  That 
hut  has  been  patched,  darned,  and  mended 
annually  so  as  to  make  it  possible  to  imprison 
a   teacher. 

During  the  summer  of  1883  the  present 
stone  chapel  was  started  on  the  foundations 
and  was  completed  in  January,  1884.  This 
is  the  fifth  substantial  stone  building  that 
makes  a  line  of  buildings  reaching  about 
sixty-five  miles,  and  kindling  a  line  of  light 
that  ought  never  to  be  put  out  or  grow  dim. 


82  THE    MORMONS 

In  September,  1884,  Mrs.  M.  W.  Green 
-and  her  daughter.  Miss  Alice,  came  from  the 
city  of  New  York  where  Mrs.  Green  had 
been  engaged  in  hospital  and  missionary 
work.  That  was  a  good  day  for  Gmmison 
people.  They  reached  Gunnison  in  time  to 
see  the  last  touches  given  to  that  fine  new 
chapel  and  to  raise  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  It 
was  a  spectacle  when  "Old  Glory"  unrolled 
her  ample  folds  in  the  Utah  breezes. 

The  school  opened  in  the  new  building  with 
its  two  rooms,  taxing  the  best  gifts  of  mother 
and  daughter.  Mrs.  Green  happened  to  be 
in  possession  of  some  financial  resources  in 
her  own  right,  a  somewhat  unusual  accident 
to  befall  a  mission  teacher.  Hence  she  re- 
solved to  abandon  that  wigwam  that  had 
pretended  to  shelter  her  predecessors.  So 
she  did  and  in  due  time  found  herself  living 
somewhat  comfortably,  and  was  therefore  in 
a  condition  to  sympathize  with  her  comfort- 
able friends  in  the  East,  who  had  sent  her  on 
a  mission. 

The  Sabbath  school  was  taken  vigorously 
in  hand.  The  Salina  minister,  when  the 
church  was  able  to  indulge  in  the  luxury  of 
having  one,  came  over  to  preach  and  render 
such  assistance  as  possible.  Dr.  Martin  of 
Manti,  fifteen  miles  to  the  north,  has  ever 
held  himself  ready  to  minister  to  the  con- 


THE    MORMONS  83 

gregation  when  other  provision  could  not  be 
made.  The  Christians  of  Gunnison  have  con- 
nected themselves  with  the  Manti  church. 

The  people  of  Gunnison  early  discovered 
that  Mrs.  Green  had  sufficient  knowledge  of 
medicine  to  be  of  great  value  to  the  com- 
munity. Hence  she  had  the  double  task  of 
teaching  the  children  in  school  and  the  moth- 
ers at  home.  She  added  to  her  other  duties 
the  pleasure  of  giving  lectures  to  the  mothers 
on  the  subject  of  caring  for  their  own  health 
and  the  health  of  their  families.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  a  minister  Mrs.  Green  had  provided 
herself  with  several  volumes  of  sermons, 
which  she  was  ready  to  read  on  the  Sabbath. 
With  Miss  Alice  at  the  organ  and  her  mother 
in  the  pulpit  with  one  of  Spurgeon's  sermons, 
a  minister  came  very  near  being  a  superfluity, 
though  he  was  always  welcomed. 

The  work  of  these  busy  teachers  did  not 
end  with  teaching  and  preaching.  They  pro- 
vided a  reading  room  where  the  young  people 
could  spend  a  social  evening  away  from  the 
fumes  of  tobacco  and  liquor,  and  escape  the 
snare  of  the  Mormon  dance. 

Naturally  enough  a  belfry  went  up  on  that 
chapel  and  there  came  a  fine-toned  bell,  whose 
music  could  be  heard  in  every  home,  shop, 
and  office  in  Gunnison.  Indeed,  there  was 
no   stopping   place   in   sight   for   these   mis- 


84  THE    MORMONS 

sionaries,  as  long  as  their  strength  did  not 
fail  them. 

It  is  on  record  that  the  first  sermon 
preached  at  Gunnison  traveled  nearly  a  hun- 
dred miles  to  get  itself  preached.  It 
brought  with  it  that  noble  servant  of  God,  the 
Rev.  George  Leonard  of  Springville,  who 
knew  how  to  give  it  tongue  and  fire.  And 
when  Mrs.  Green  was  ready  to  have  her 
chapel  dedicated,  she  sent  two  hundred  miles, 
to  the  Rev.  S.  L.  Gillespie  of  Brigham.  This 
was  to  make  sure  to  have  the  right  thing  said, 
and  in  a  known  tongue.  And  the  thing  was 
done.  The  whole  plant  cost  $2,050.94,  says 
Dr.  Martin.  The  people  of  Gunnison  gave 
$137,  the  missionaries  $309,  the  Board  of 
Church  Erection  $600,  and  the  Woman's  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  the  balance.  Thank  you, 
ladies ! 

But  the  best  of  missionaries  wear  out,  and 
must  betake  themselves  to  a  place  of  rest. 
And  it  was  that  necessity  that  sent  our  mis- 
sionaries to  southern  California.  And  now 
one  of  our  mission  teachers,  a  jewel,  whose 
story  must  be  told  before  this  bit  of  history 
is  complete,  comes  as  a  successor  to  the  absent 
ones,  and  must  go  back  to  that  disreputable 
hut  to  live,  if  life  in  that  shack  can  be  caUed 
living. 


CHAPTER    IX 

Nephi— Flower  and  Fruit — Huntington  Chapel 
— First  Minister — Early  Teachers — An  Eng- 
lish Lady — MoriMon  Missionary  Methods — 
Short  Pastorates — Payson — Pennsylvania's 
Contributions — Solid  and  Sold — An  Extem- 
porized Corner — Se.\rch  Rewarded — Church 
Organized — Able  Teachers — Prejudice  Al- 
layed— SocL\L  Life  Changed. 

The  town  of  Nephi  is  named  from  one  of 
the  characters  in  the  Book  of  Mormon.  It 
has  a  population  of  over  two  thousand.  It 
is  eighty-five  miles  south  of  Salt  Lake  City 
and  directly  across  the  divide  twenty  miles 
west  of  Mt.  Pleasant.  It  is  at  the  mouth  of 
a  canyon  through  which  Salt  Creek  has  en- 
gineered its  way  and  made  it  possible  for  the 
steam  engine  to  climb  across  the  divide.  The 
narrow  gauge  and  its  little  sputtering  en- 
gine of  eighteen  years  ago  have  given  place 
to  the  broad  gauge  and  a  dignified  engine  of 
respectable  proportions,  with  all  its  belong- 
ings. 

Brigham  Young  knew  how  to  locate  a  town. 
85 


86  THE    MORMONS 

Water  is  the  life  of  all  this  arid  country  and 
the  town  or  settlement  must  gather  at  the 
stream.  Wisely,  therefore,  was  this  settle- 
ment made.  Our  mission  accepts  the  situa- 
tion and  has  undertaken  to  bless  the  people, 
bring  to  them  the  Word  of  God,  and  seek  for 
them  the  Holy  Spirit  of  which  water  is  the 
symbol.  We  have  learned  that  when  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  poured  out  upon  our  mission 
work,  there  is  life,  there  is  verdure,  flower 
and  fruit — "first  the  blade,  after  that  the 
corn,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear." 

The  first  missionary  work  attempted  in 
Nephi  Avas  by  the  Methodist  Church.  A 
school  was  opened  for  a  year  and  the  con- 
struction of  a  chapel  was  undertaken.  Re- 
sources, however,  failed  and  as  the  enterprise 
was  to  be  given  up  it  was  proposed  to  sell 
the  unfinished  building  to  our  Board.  Dr. 
McMillan  met  a  number  of  friends  in  Cleve- 
land, Ohio,  and  laid  before  them  the  propo- 
sition to  purchase  the  property.  Mrs.  Hunt- 
ington interested  herself  and  friends  in  the 
purchase  and  the  property  was  transferred 
to  us  at  a  cost  of  one  thousand  dollars.  Addi- 
tional funds  were  secured  to  complete  the 
buildings  and  fit  it  for  occupancy.  Until  the 
completion  of  the  chapel,  the  mission  school 
was  taught  in  a  small  adobe  building  in 
the   rear   of   the   main   building,   which    has 


THE    MORMONS  87 

since  been  transformed  into  a  home  for  our 
teachers. 

It  was  in  the  fall  of  1879  that  Mr.  H.  C. 
McBurney  opened  our  first  mission  school 
with  five  pupils.  He  secured  a  small  increase 
during  the  year.  The  Sunday  school  outgrew 
the  day  school.  Mr.  McBurney  began  Sun- 
day evening  meetings.  Though  not  a  minis- 
ter of  the  gospel^  he  was  an  earnest  Chris- 
tian man  and  did  all  his  work  with  the  single 
purpose  of  leading  souls  into  the  light  of  the 
gospel. 

When  the  chapel  was  dedicated  in  the  fall 
of  1880  it  was  called  the  "Huntington 
Chapel/'  in  honor  of  the  Christian  woman  to 
whose  interest  and  zeal  it  owed  its  existence. 
At  the  request  of  Cleveland  friends,  Mrs. 
Huntington  was  present  at  the  dedication 
and  witnessed  the  consummation  of  her  ear- 
nest efforts  in  behalf  of  this  mission  enter- 
prise. Dr.  McMillan  continued  occasional 
preaching  service  until  the  Rev.  Charles 
Fraser  took  charge  of  the  mission  in  June, 
1880.  Mr.  Fraser  devoted  himself  earnestly 
to  preaching  and  visiting  and  the  general 
oversight  of  the  mission  until  1884.  He  se- 
cured the  construction  of  a  belfry  and,  from 
friends  in  the  East,  a  bell,  ready  to  be  used. 
"The  night  after  the  bell  was  hung  the  chapel 
was  fired,  and  was  only  saved  by  hard  work." 


88  THE    MORMONS 

Mormons  did  not  like  the  sound  of  a  Pres- 
byterian bell. 

The  mission  school  grew  in  numbers  and 
interest.  The  Misses  Lockwood  and  Mc- 
Pheeters  came  in  to  supply  its  larger  de- 
mands. Their  work  was  greatly  blessed. 
On  the  retirement  of  Miss  McPheeters,  Miss 
Gee,  one  of  Cleveland's  best  primary  teach- 
ers, took  the  vacancy  and  continued  her 
labors  for  six  years.  In  the  absence  of  min- 
isterial help,  for  several  years  the  teachers 
conducted  regular  religious  services  with  ac- 
ceptance and  profit  to  the  people.  Four  years 
without  a  minister  put  to  the  test  the  zeal  and 
capacity  of  the  teachers. 

In  January,  1888,  the  Rev.  W.  N.  P. 
Daley  took  ministerial  oversight  of  the  mis- 
sion, and  remained  until  1891.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded for  a  few  months  by  the  Rev.  Josiah 
McClain,  until  he  was  called  to  the  Third 
Church  in  Salt  Lake  City.  In  March,  1890, 
during  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Daley,  the  Hunt- 
ington church  was  organized  with  twelve 
members. 

An  English  lady,  having  passed  through 
all  the  trials  incident  to  membership  in  the 
Mormon  Church,  had  at  length  been  led  to 
place  her  faith  in  the  only  Saviour.  This  was 
a  return  to  the  Christian  faith  of  her  girl- 
hood.    In  her  early  life  in  her  English  home 


THE    MORMONS  89 

she  had  accepted  the  Saviour.  The  Mormon 
missionaries  came  to  her  and  insisted  that 
her  baptism  was  spurious  because  she  had 
not  been  immersed.  Her  tender  conscience 
was  perplexed,  troubled,  and  confused.  Not 
having  been  instructed  in  the  Scriptures,  she 
was  easily  bewildered  and  consented  to  ac- 
cept immersion  at  the  hands  of  the  Mormon 
elder.  She  was  then  informed  that  she  was 
a  member  of  the  Mormon  Church  and  that 
"she  must  gather  with  the  saints  to  Zion/*  in 
order  to  secure  all  the  blessings  of  the  King- 
dom. She  was  helpless  in  the  hands  of  the 
artful  deceiver,  and  was  led  step  by  step 
through  all  the  bitterness  of  death  that  is 
realized  in  a  polygamous  life.  Her  faith  in 
Mormonism  had  at  length  been  destroyed, 
and  when  our  mission  teachers  found  her  she 
had  cast  off  polj^gamy  as  a  vile  thing — a  sj^s- 
tem  of  torture.  Their  coming  was  at  the 
right  time.  As  messengers  from  God  they 
pointed  her  back  to  the  Saviour  of  her  early 
life.  The  light  came  into  her  heart,  and  the 
clouds  and  horror  of  the  past  were  swept 
away.  She  is  to-day  one  of  our  devoted  mem- 
bers of  the  church  at  Nephi. 

Her  experience  is  that  of  thousands  of 
young  people  in  the  Christian  churches,  who 
have  been  beguiled  by  the  artful  mission- 
aries, who  go  about  to  deceive  those  who  have 


90  THE    MORMONS 

not  been  grounded  in  the  truth.  They  gen- 
erally raise  the  question  of  the  validity  of 
baptism  that  has  not  been  administered  by 
immersion  at  the  hands  of  a  Mormon  elder. 
The  Mormon  elder  alone,  in  his  estimation, 
has  the  authority  to  baptize,  and  his  baptism 
by  immersion  claims  to  wash  away  sin. 
Hence  much  of  our  missionaries*  business  is 
rescue  work — to  deliver  ensnared  souls  from 
the  thraldom  of  the  Mormon  delusion. 

Other  teachers  at  Nephi  followed  up  this 
work  so  nobly  commenced.  While  engaged 
in  Christian  service  at  Nephi,  Miss  Gee  was 
educating  a  young  lady  who  had  been  brought 
out  of  Mormonism  and  who,  after  her  gradua- 
tion in  the  East,  rendered  noble  missionary 
service  while  health  permitted. 

Miss  Anna  F.  Hulburd,  now  the  wife  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  J.  B.  McCuish  of  Leadville, 
Colorado,  came  from  Park  College  and 
joined  Miss  Gee  in  mission  labor  at  Nephi 
until  she  was  called  to  the  Salt  Lake  Col- 
legiate  Institute. 

The  Rev.  O.  S.  Wilson  succeeded  Mr. 
McClain  in  the  Nephi  pulpit  for  three  years, 
and  was  followed  by  the  Rev.  John  Wilson, 
whom  the  Rev.  John  D.  Stormont  has  suc- 
ceeded. 

During  recent  years  the  church  building 
has  been  very  much  improved,  and  the  mis- 


THE    MORMONS  91 

sion  is  prosperous.  The  Brooklyn  Church, 
of  Oakland,  California,  is  furnishing  a  faith- 
ful teacher  and  her  support. 

We  are  constantly  indebted  to  Pennsyl- 
vania for  her  benefactions  to  the  home  mis- 
sion cause  in  Utah.  Among  her  valuable 
contributions  was  the  gift  of  the  young  man, 
the  Rev.  J.  A.  Livingston  Smith  and  his 
wife.  They  came  to  this  service  in  October, 
1881,  sent  by  the  Home  Mission  Board.  Like 
all  other  toilers,  they  had  to  take  their  sound- 
ings on  arrival,  and  ascertain  where  they 
would  be  permitted  to  dwell.  Dr.  McNiece, 
of  Salt  Lake  City,  passed  them  on  to  the 
Rev.  George  Leonard,  of  Spring\ille,  for 
further  initiation  into  missionary  service. 
Mr.  Leonard  had  been  exploring  farther 
south  in  Utah  County,  and  had  found  a  field 
sufficiently  difficult  to  test  the  young  man.  In 
his  investigation  at  Payson,  Mr.  Leonard  had 
succeeded  in  hiring  a  dance  hall  from  an  apos- 
tate and  infidel.  A  man  with  a  difficult  con- 
tract before  him  is  usually  glad  to  welcome  a 
partner.  Hence  Mr.  Smith's  coming  brought 
with  it  the  promise  of  lifting  a  heavy  burden 
from  the  shoulders  of  our  overworked  mis- 
sionary at  Springville.  The  next  problem  was 
how  to  locate  a  Christian  minister  in  Payson, 
a  town  solid  and  sold  to  Mormonism.  Mr. 
Leonard   had  been  preaching  in  that  dance 


92  THE    MORMONS 

hall  on  alternate  Sabbaths  for  a  year,  but 
the  town  was  rid  of  him  the  other  six  days 
in  the  week  and  the  hall  surroundings  fur- 
nished small  attraction  when  the  missionary 
did  come.  But  to  locate  a  man  seven  days 
in  the  week  could  not  be  considered  by  the 
people  of  Payson. 

At  that  time  Payson  had  a  population  of 
nearly  three  thousand  and  not  a  Christian  in 
the  town,  except  the  mission  teacher,  who 
was  struggling  with  the  perplexing  business 
of  trying  to  teach  a  few  pupils  in  that  large, 
cold  hall.  So  thoroughly  determined  were 
the  citizens  not  to  permit  a  Christian  min- 
ister to  locate  there  that  a  three-daj^s'  united 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  two  missionaries 
failed  to  secure  a  place  of  abode.  Not  even 
temporary  lodging  could  be  had  for  the  mis- 
sionary and  his  family  in  any  hotel  or  board- 
ing house.  There  were  several  vacant  houses 
"For  rent"  but  not  to  a  Presbyterian  mis- 
sionary. 

Mr.  Leonard  finally  gave  up  what  to  him 
seemed  a  hopeless  eifort  and  advised  Mr. 
Smith  to  retire  and  seek  labor  in  some  of  the 
other  open  fields.  But  the  young  man  had 
come  to  stay,  and  on  the  fourth  day  he  ob- 
tained permission  of  the  infidel  owner  of  the 
dance  hall  to  partition  off  a  part  of  the  hall 
and  occupy  a  corner  of  it.    He  moved  his  wife 


THE    MORMONS  93 

and  two  small  children  into  this  extem- 
porized shelter  where  he  remained  for  a 
year,  preaching  "in  his  own  hired  house/* 
such  as  it  was.  Mission  school  and  Sunday 
school  were  regularly  carried  forward  in  the 
hall,  praying  and  waiting  for  the  next  thing 
to  come.  And  it  came.  He  kept  up  the  hunt 
for  a  site  on  which  to  erect  a  building  suitable 
for  the  mission.  He  was  refused  six  differ- 
ent places,  one  after  the  other,  that  were 
advertised  "For  Sale,"  to  any  other  than  a 
Christian  minister  and  for  any  other  purpose 
than  a  mission. 

About  the  first  of  April,  1882,  his  long 
search  was  rewarded.  An  apostate  Mormon 
of  Rock  Springs,  Wyoming,  who  had  gotten 
away  from  the  tyranny  of  the  priesthood, 
had  a  block  ten  rods  square  very  well  located, 
which  he  could  not  carry  away  with  him.  He 
learned  that  Mr.  Smith  was  looking  for  a 
location  on  whicK  to  build  a  chapel  and,  al- 
though "not  very  religious,"  he  was  ready  to 
accommodate  our  missionar5\  The  property 
was  secured,  and  by  November  he  had 
erected  a  substantial  manse  and  house  of 
worship  at  a  cost  of  five  thousand  dollars. 
He  drew  the  plans,  superintended  the  con- 
struction and  wrought  daily  with  his  own 
hands. 

By  August  of  the  next  year,  the  nucleus 
of  a  church  had  been  gathered,  and  on  the 


94  THE    MORMONS 

nineteenth  of  the  month,  1883,  eleven  mem- 
bers with  one  elder  were  organized  by  the 
Presbytery,  as  the  First  Presbyterian  Church 
of  Payson.  Mr.  Smith  continued  his  labors 
at  Payson  until  the  spring  of  1887  when,  for 
reasons  of  health,  he  took  the  superintend- 
ence of  building  several  churches  and  the 
Hungerford  Academy. 

The  chapel  at  Payson  was  arranged  for 
two  teachers  and  has  been  constantly  used. 
The  mission  has  been  fortunate  in  securing 
able  teachers  and  helpers  to  the  minister. 
Miss  Wheeler  came  in  the  dark  days,  the  first 
teacher.  Miss  Woodruff  had  to  corral  her 
little  company  in  the  old  dance  hall.  The 
chapel  then  opened  its  doors  and  welcomed 
the  mission  school.  The  Misses  McCullough 
and  McNair,  Mrs.  Sullivan  and  daughter,  and 
Miss  Sammons  and  their  assistants  have 
wrought   faithfully   and   effectually. 

The  Rev.  W.  A.  Hough  succeeded  Mr. 
Smith;  then  came  the  Rev.  A.  C.  Todd,  a 
noble  servant  of  God.  Fie  was  followed  by 
the  Rev.  W.  S.  Smith,  and  the  Rev.  ]\Iessrs. 
Howard  and  John  Wilson.  The  Rev.  S.  I. 
Ward  is  the  present  minister.  Twenty  mem- 
bers were  given  letters  to  organize  a  church 
at  Benjamin,  three  miles  away.  This  church 
is  cared  for  by  the  Payson  pastor  and  is 
making  itself  felt  in  the  community 


CHAPTER    X 

A  New  Message — Small  Audience — An  Attrac- 
tion—Spanish Fork— The  Carpenter  Shop — 
Saloons  Closed — Mission  at  Kaysville  — 
Depleted  Treasury. 

Springville  is  one  of  our  most  interest- 
ing fields  for  Christian  effort.  It  is  fifty- 
miles  south  of  Salt  Lake  City,  located  on  a 
broad  plateau,  rising  gradually  toward  the 
mountains  on  the  east.  There  is  a  popula- 
tion of  more  than  three  thousand. 

The  town  was  early  settled  and  had  its 
share  of  horrors  in  the  days  when  human 
life  was  worth  nothing,  when  questions  of  re- 
ligion were  before  the  ruling  authorities  of 
Utah.  It  is  a  joy  to  turn  from  the  fearful 
history  of  those  days  to  the  introduction  of 
the  gospel  and  the  progress  that  has  marked 
the  efforts  of  the  minister  and  mission  school 
teacher. 

It  was  in  June,  1 877,  that  the  Rev.  George 
W.  Leonard  visited  Springville  and  adjacent 
towns  and  began  preaching  the  gospel.  It 
95 


96  THE    MORMONS 

was  a  new  and  startling  message  that  he 
brought  to  the  people — that  no  man,  priest 
or  prelate,  could  come  between  the  soul  and 
God.  He  was  met  by  the  usual  difficulty  of 
finding  a  place  that  he  could  call  home  and 
church.  The  long  and  lurid  representations 
concerning  Christian  ministers  had  filled  the 
minds  of  the  people  with  serious  apprehen- 
sions over  the  coming  of  our  missionary.  A 
diligent  and  protracted  search,  however, 
finally  secured  for  him  **a  small  one-story 
adobe  building  with  two  rooms,  eleven  by 
twelve  feet  each,"  as  a  house  of  worship. 
Though  inadequate  in  size  and  adaptation, 
he  could  control  it  and  give  his  message.  One 
could  scarcely  conceive  of  a  more  discourag- 
ing beginning  but  it  was  according  to  God's 
method — "The  Kingdom  of  God  cometh  not 
with  observation." 

Mr.  Leonard  was  himself  somewhat  in 
keeping  with  these  modest  beginnings — 
quiet,  undemonstrative,  humble,  patient,  per- 
sistent. He  came  with  no  flourish  of  trump- 
ets but  he  came  to  toil.  Like  the  still  small 
voice,  his  quiet  life  spoke  to  the  deepest 
thought  of  those  to  whom  he  gave  his  mes- 
sage. 

His  audience  at  the  beginning  of  his  min- 
istry was  little  larger  than  the  Master's  at 
the  well  of  Samaria,  but  those  present  went 


THE    MORMONS  9" 

out  to  speak  to  the  people  of  a  man  that  told 
them  some  things,  if  not  all  the  things  that 
they  did.  Two  months  later  the  missionary- 
began  preaching  at  Payson.  He  must  needs 
go  through  Spanish  Fork^  and  that  resulted 
in  occasional  services  at  this  latter  place.  For 
]\Ir.  Leonard  to  see  an  opening  was  to  insure 
his  entrance. 

A  Sabbath  school  was  organized  at  Spring- 
ville  in  the  beginning  of  his  ministry,  small  at 
first,  but  rapidly  enlarged.  The  children  dis- 
covered the  interest  of  our  missionaries  in 
their  pupils.  The  fresh  instruction,  the  at- 
tractive hymns,  and  the  entire  service  took 
hold  of  them  and  drew  them  to  the  mission- 
aries, crowding  the  services. 

In  the  autumn  of  the  same  year  i\Iiss  Anna 
Noble,  from  Cedar  Rapids,  opened  a  day 
school  with  thirty-eight  pupils  in  the  same 
little  building.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
her  missionary  labors  in  Utah.  Her  school 
grew  rapidly  but  the  school  room  did  not. 
After  a  time  the  leaking  roof  made  tlie  room 
so  uncomfortable  that  the  teacher  had  to 
retire  temporarily,  but  again  took  up  her 
work  and  was  assisted  by  Miss  jSIattie  Voris. 
Changes  brought  Miss  Eugenia  Munger,  Miss 
T.  A.  Wray,  now  Mrs.  Theodore  Lee,  and 
others.  For  ^Ir.  Leonard  had  secured  means 
from  the  East  and  completed  a  larger  build- 


98  THE    MORMONS 

ing,  furnishing  room  for  the  constantly  grow- 
ing school.  The  chapel  was  dedicated  on 
Christmas,  1879- 

The  services  in  the  new  chapel  were  mak- 
ing an  impression  on  the  commmiity,  and  on 
the  fifteenth  of  March  a  church  of  eleven 
members  was  organized  by  the  Presbytery  of 
Utah.  The  educational  department  of  the 
mission  developed  rapidly  in  the  new  chapel 
until  a  third  teacher  was  demanded  to  care 
for  one  hundred  pupils.  An  enlargement  of 
the  chapel  became  necessary  and,  with  the 
kindergarten  department,  fifty  more  pupils 
were  added. 

Mr.  Leonard  had  in  the  mean  time  secured 
the  location  of  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Livingston 
Smith  at  Payson  as  already  noticed,  and  had 
opened  a  mission  school  at  Spanish  Fork 
under  the  care  of  Miss  Lucy  Perley  of  Wash- 
ington City.  Mr.  Leonard  preached  in 
Spanish  Fork  every  Sabbath  afternoon.  His 
service  was  preceded  by  a  Bible  class  taught 
by  Miss  Perley.  This  labor  was  added  to 
his  earnest  pastoral  work  at  Springville.  In 
the  mean  time  Mrs.  M.  P.  Hungerford,  of 
Westfield,  N.  Y.,  had  been  interested  in 
Christian  education  in  Utah.  The  rapid 
progress  of  the  pupils  at  Springville  and 
their  advancement  in  the  higher  studies  made 
necessary   some   arrangements   for   academic 


THE    MORMONS  99 

work.  Mrs.  Hungerford  had  sufficient  faith 
in  the  efforts  of  the  Home  Mission  Board 
and  the  Woman's  Board,  to  investigate  con- 
ditions and  necessities,  and  to  generously 
donate  five  thousand  dollars  for  the  erection 
of  the  academy. 

Mr.  Leonard  had  carried  the  responsibility^ 
and  labor  of  this  wide  field;  had  secured  the 
arrangements  for  the  erection  of  the  acad- 
emy ;  had  done  his  work  well  and  nobly,  often 
using  his  own  meagre  salary  to  meet  finan- 
cial exigencies  in  the  school.  He  was  sud- 
denly laid  aside,  and  called  on  Thanksgiving 
Day,  1885,  to  the  rest  beyond.  His  work  had 
been  a  preparation  for  larger  and  better 
things.  He  laid  the  foundations  well.  His 
wife  remained  some  years  to  care  for  the 
children  God  had  given  them  and  to  start 
them  in  their  life  work,  and  then  followed 
on  "to  be  forever  with  the  Lord."  These 
workers  ceased,  but  the  work  has  gone  on, 
growing  in  power,  gathering  pupils  to  this 
educational  centre  from  the  adjacent  towns. 

The  Rev.  Theodore  Lee  came  to  Spring- 
ville  in  1887,  and  remained  in  charge  of  the 
church  till  transferred  to  SjDanish  Fork  in 
1891.  In  the  mean  time  the  Rev.  J.  A.  Liv- 
ingston Smith  had  been  put  in  charge  of  the 
erection  of  the  academy,  had  completed  the 
building,  and  had  been  employed  as  princi- 


100  THE    MORMONS 

pal,  holding  that  position  for  a  number  of 
years. 

The  Rev.  C.  I\I.  Shepherd  succeeded  Mr. 
Lee  and  during  his  ministry  secured  the  erec- 
tion of  the  present  beautiful  house  of  wor- 
ship. The  Rev.  A.  C.  Todd  followed  Mr. 
Shepherd,  and  laid  down  his  life  among  the 
people.  The  Rev.  R.  Cooper  Bailey,  Ph.D., 
spent  several  years  as  pastor  of  the  church, 
and  is  now  followed  by  the  Rev.  T.  C.  Smith, 
D.D.  A  long  roll  of  teachers  has  toiled, 
whose  record  is  on  high.  Principal  Charles 
F.  Romig,  with  his  six  able  assistant  teach- 
ers, is  now  contributing  to  the  educational 
and  moral  up-lift  of  the  one  hundred  and 
thirty-eight  pupils  and  the  people  of  Spring- 
ville. 

As  already  stated,  Mr.  Leonard  had  in- 
augurated the  work  at  Spanish  Fork  by  secur- 
ing Miss  Lucy  Perley  as  mission  teacher 
and  by  preaching  regularly  on  the  afternoon 
of  each  Sabbath.  In  March,  1891,  the  Rev. 
Theodore  Lee  was  transferred  from  Spring- 
ville,  to  give  all  his  time  to  Spanish  Fork  and 
Salem.  Miss  Perley  had  opened  her  school 
is  an  old  carpenter  shop  which  had  been 
leased  for  two  years  for  school  purposes. 
She  taught  for  six  weeks  with  one  pupil. 
She  gave  much  of  her  time  to  visiting  among 
the  people,  making  their  acquaintance,  gain- 


THE    MORMONS  101 

ing  their  confidence^  and  ministering  comfort 
as  far  as  possible.  Her  service  took  strong 
hold  of  the  people^,  but  the  lack  of  facilities 
crippled  her  best  efforts.  She  closed  her 
first  term  in  the  mission  school  with  eight 
jDupils.  The  old  carpenter  shop,  unplastered, 
with  wide  open  cracks,  made  the  shell  of  a 
building  almost  uninhabitable. 

Finally  a  lot  was  purchased  with  a  small 
dwelling-house.  The  lower  part  was  con- 
verted into  a  church  and  school  room,  and 
the  upper  part  became  the  home  for  teach- 
eri.  Abundant  relief  came  when  the  Presby- 
tery of  Washington  contributed  the  means 
to  build  a  substantial  brick  chapel  large 
enough  for  a  school  of  fifty  or  sixty  pupils  in 
the  two  rooms  that  can  be  thrown  together  for 
preaching  purposes. 

Though  the  school  was  closed  several  years 
ago,  Mr.  Lee  has  gone  forward  with  his 
work,  with  a  Sabbath  school  of  ninety  pupils. 

]\Ir.  and  i\Irs.  Lee  have  exerted  a  large  and 
salutary  influence  upon  the  young  people. 
The  reading  room,  the  mothers'  meetings 
and  temperance  meetings  have  touched  almost 
all  sides  of  the  social  and  religious  life  of  the 
people.  At  one  time  they  succeeded  in  clos- 
ing the  saloon  traffic,  but  the  cupidity  of  the 
corporation  at  length  opened  the  saloons  for 
a    price.       The    Hungerford    Academy     at 


102  THE    MORMONS 

Springville,  six  miles  distant,  gathers  some 
of  its  pupils  from  Spanish  Fork. 

Kaysville  is  the  half-way  station  between 
Salt  Lake  City  and  Ogden.  No  permanent 
educational  work  was  undertaken  at  this  place 
until  January,  1882.  Miss  Ella  McDonald 
came  in  September  but  was  unable  to  find  a 
location  to  begin  work  until  January.  An 
acre  and  a  half  of  ground  was  then  secured 
with  a  small  adobe  cottage.  The  teacher 
fitted  up  one  room  for  herself  and  the  other 
for  a  school  room.  On  the  sixteenth  of  Janu- 
ary the  mission  school  was  fairly  opened, 
and  for  five  years  this  faithful  teacher  toiled 
and  wrought  her  life  into  the  life  of  her 
pupils.  The  Sabbath  school  was  opened  with 
the  day  school.  On  the  retirement  of  the  first 
teacher,  others  followed. 

For  a  time  the  minister  at  Ogden  supplied 
the  preaching  service.  In  1887  the  Rev.  E. 
M.  Knox,  who  had  done  an  important  work  at 
Malad  City,  was  transferred  to  Kaysville. 
He  at  once  put  his  hand  to  the  work  of  secur- 
ing a  chapel  and  within  a  year  had  succeeded 
in  erecting  a  building  well  adapted  to  our 
use.  On  the  twentieth  of  October,  1892,  a 
church  of  eleven  members  was  organized. 
The  mission  school  entered  the  new  building 
and  at  once  two  teachers  were  demanded  for 
the  growing  school.     Prosperity  attended  the 


THE    MORMONS  103 

mission  until  the  depletion  of  the  mission 
treasury  could  supply  only  one  teacher.  The 
number  of  pupils  was  reduced  one  half. 
The  mission,  however,  has  been  continued 
and,  when  Mr.  Knox's  health  made  it  neces- 
sary to  retire,  a  successor  was  secured.  The 
Rev.   H.  H.  Davis  is  carrying  forward  the 


CHAPTER    XI 

A  Tragedy — Baptism  for  the  Dead — A  Light - 
House — Seed-Sowing — A  Saved  One — Worth 
OF  A  Soul — ^Toquerville — Cedar  City — Paro- 
WAN — Evangelistic  Effort — Changing — Be- 
ginning to  Think — Coming  Triumph. 

A  brief  story  must  yet  be  told  of  our 
home  mission  work  in  southern  Utah.  On 
reaching  that  part  of  the  State^,  one  finds  con- 
ditions very  different  from  those  in  north- 
ern Utah.  The  old  superstitions  of  forty 
years  ago  still  hang  like  a  heavy  fog  in  the 
atmosphere.  Southern  Utah  has  been  the 
scene  of  the  darkest  tragedy  of  this  conti- 
nent, which  has  been  already  referred  to. 
While  the  forces  that  wrought  the  crime  of 
the  Mountain  Meadows  Massacre  originated 
in  the  incarnate  tyranny  that  resided  in  Salt 
Lake  City,  the  enactment  of  the  horrible 
scene  was  pushed  off  to  southern  Utah,  to  be 
kept  as  far  out  of  sight  as  possible. 

Our  most  southern  mission,  at  St.  George, 
is  a  day's  travel  beyond  the  Mountain  Mead- 
ows. It  is  in  a  wide  and  fertile  valley  wa- 
104 


THE    MORMONS  105 

tered  by  the  Virgin  River,  into  which  the 
Santa  Clara  empties.  St.  George,  seven  miles 
north  of  the  Arizona  line,  is  in  a  basin  near 
the  immense  rocky  reefs  on  the  north.  The 
mid-day,  from  June  to  October,  is  excessively 
hot,  reaching  to  115°  above  zero,  but  the 
evenings  are  cool  and  pleasant.  Tropical 
fruits  grow  abundantly.  St.  George  is  a  fine 
winter  resort,  and  would  be  thronged  with 
seekers  for  health,  if  it  were  accessible. 
Brigham  Young  had  a  winter  home  in  the 
town,  where  he  found  respite  from  the  rigors 
of  the  winters  in  northern  Utah.  The  first 
of  the  four  temples  of  Utah  was  built  here. 
Here  all  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  appeared  to  President  Wood- 
ruff for  two  nights  in  succession,  as  he  re- 
ported, and  begged  him  to  do  vicarious  work 
for  them  while  they  were  in  the  intermediate 
state.  The  benevolent  old  gentleman  said  he 
yielded  to  their  urgent  entreaties  and  was 
baptized  for  them  and  rescued  them  from 
their  lost  state.  He  affirmed  that  they  were 
now  Mormon  elders  (Dr.  Witherspoon  in- 
cluded), preaching  to  the  other  lost  spirits. 

The  reader  will  conclude  that  there  was 
need  of  Christian  missions  in  the  midst  of 
such  heathenism.  Acting  under  the  pressure 
of  such  necessity  our  first  mission  school  was 
opened  at  St.   George  on  October  eleventh. 


106  THE    MORMONS 

1880,  with  a  Miss  Stevenson  as  teacher.  The 
Eev.  A.  B.  Cort  had  come  to  Utah  to  engage 
in  home  mission  work.  He  asked  the  Pres- 
bytery for  the  most  difficult  field  and  was 
unanimously  voted  a  position  at  St.  George. 
The  school  had  been  located  in  the  first  ward, 
which  was  a  moral  refrigerator.  Pupils 
could  not  go  to  school  in  open  daylight  with- 
out being  seen.  Hence  they  did  not  venture 
to  go.  Understanding  the  situation,  Mr. 
Cort  purchased  a  building  in  the  third  ward 
of  the  town,  quite  removed  from  the  close 
inspection  of  the  priesthood.  Within  a 
month  fourteen  pupils  were  enrolled.  Mr. 
Cort  was  a  vigorous  worker  as  his  choice  of 
fields  would  indicate.  He  pushed  out  into 
the  town  of  Washington,  five  or  six  miles 
away,  and  north  to  Toquerville,  twenty-five 
miles  distant,  and  opened  work  at  both  places. 
In  Washington  he  purchased  the  house  in 
which  had  resided  Bishop  John  D.  Lee,  the 
man  who  led  the  murderous  crew  at  Moun- 
tain Meadows,  and  who  had  been  executed 
for  his  crime.  Little  was  accomplished  at 
Washington  but  our  mission  at  St.  George 
has  stood  as  a  light-house  on  a  dangerous 
coast.  Mrs.  Blackburn  and  her  daughter 
gave  seven  years  of  noble  Christian  living 
and  teaching  in  this  intensely  Mormon  town. 
Miss    Catharine   R.    Watt,   who  had   been   a 


THE    MORMONS  107 

missionary  in  Africa  for  years  and  who  was 
an  accomplished  teacher,  followed.  She  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Galan  Hardy  and  his 
wife  who  entered  the  work  in  October,  1893, 
and  continued  until  the  death  of  Mr.  Hardy 
in  1898. 

In  May,  1899,  the  Rev.  George  W.  Martin, 
D.D.,  the  Rev.  E.  L.  Anderson,  and  the  writer 
pitched  their  gospel  tent  in  St.  George,  and 
for  three  weeks  conducted  daily  meetings,  an- 
swering questions  before  the  audience,  and 
visiting  the  families  during  the  day.  It  was 
a  seed-sowing  time.  Many  of  the  people, 
who  had  kept  themselves  aloof  from  our  mis- 
sion, heard  the  truth.  In  1901,  May  twelfth, 
it  was  our  privilege  to  dedicate  our  first  house 
of  worship  there.  Our  former  religious  ser- 
vices had  been  conducted  in  the  half-story 
attic  of  the  mission  house.  A  few  souls  had 
been  led  to  the  Master  and  had  learned  to 
know  Him.  They  are  as  brands  plucked  out 
of  the  burning.  We  are  not  measuring  the 
success  of  our  labors  in  Utah  by  the  number 
of  converts,  but  by  the  steady  attrition  of 
the  gospel  on  the  Mormon  system,  and  by 
the  priceless  value  of  the  precious  ones  here 
and  there  that  God  is  calling  out  of  dark- 
ness. 

Just  here  it  is  worth  while  to  hear  one 
speak  who  has  been  thus   redeemed,  and  is 


108  THE    MORMONS 

to-day  doing  the  work  of  one  of  our  mission 
stations.     She  says :  * 

"I  have  heard  this  question  discussed, 
'Should  not  the  Presbyterian  missionaries 
withdraw  from  the  work  among  the  Mor- 
mons, since  the  conversions  are  so  few  ?  * 

*'l  often  wonder  what  would  have  become 
of  me  if  the  missionaries  had  never  come  to 
Utah.  I  am  a  child  of  the  third  wife,  for 
my  father  was  a  polygamist.  Do  I  not  know 
something  about  Mormonism?  My  heart 
goes  out  in  gratitude  to  God  and  His  cola- 
borers,  when  I  think  from  what  I  have  been 
saved,  and  not  only  myself,  but  some  of  my 
loved  ones. 

"I  well  remember  when  I  first  heard  that 
there  was  a  Presbyterian  school  in  St. 
George.  I  was  about  eight  years  old,  and 
great  was  my  surprise  to  know  that  there 
were  people  who  were  not  Mormons.  My 
father,  who  desired  his  children  to  have  the 
advantage  of  the  best  schools,  took  us  from 
the  Mormon  school  and  placed  us  in  the 
Presbyterian  school.  As  I  was  daily  care- 
fully taught  by  the  missionary  teachers  in 
the  Bible  and  saw  their  Christ-like  lives,  I 
began  to  think  that  they  had  something  bet- 
ter than  the  Mormons. 

*  From  the  Home  Mission  Monthly,  July,  1903. 


THE    MORMONS  109 

"Until  I  was  sixteen  years  old  I  thought 
I  was  a  strong  believer  in  the  Mormon  re- 
ligion. I  was  a  member  of  that  Church  and 
attended  all  their  meetings  and  took  part  in 
them.  Through  the  kind  aid  of  Mrs.  B.,  I 
attended  Hungerford  Academy.  Here  God's 
Spirit  finished  its  work  of  convincing  me  that 
Mormonism  is  not  true,  and  I  united  with 
the  Presbyterian  Church  some  twelve  years 
ago. 

"My  parents  were  not  pleased  with  this 
last  stej),  as  they  feared  ill  treatment,  and 
asked  me  to  keep  it  a  secret.  I  did  so,  as  I 
went  East  that  summer  to  spend  four  years 
at  school.  When  I  returned  home,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  minister  I  conducted  the  Sab- 
bath school,  and  it  was  then  known  where  I 
stood. 

"If  there  was  any  one  thing  which  con- 
vinced me  more  than  another  that  IMormon- 
ism  is  not  true,  it  was  in  comparing  the  lives 
of  the  mission  teachers  with  the  lives  of  the 
INIormons.  I  hear  much  about  the  work  in 
Utah  being  discouraging. 

"There  may  be  cause  for  being  discour- 
aged yet  I  doubt  whether  there  is  a  mission 
field  in  Utah  where  there  have  not  been  some 
conversions.  Am  I  selfish?  I  may  be,  yet  I 
cannot  help  feeling  that  the  salvation  of  my 
soul  was  worth  all  the  money  spent  at  St. 


110  THE    MORMONS 

George,  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  missionaries, 
when  I  consider  from  what  I  have  been  saved 
— Mormonism  with  all  its  satanic  teachings 
and  practices." 

These  appealing  words  from  a  redeemed 
one,  now  toiling  to  bring  to  others  the  truth 
that  saved  her,  ought  to  go  to  the  hearts  of 
those  who  are  complaining  of  the  small  re- 
sults of  missions  in  Utah. 

The  Toquerville  mission,  twenty-five  miles 
north  of  St.  George,  has  been  a  most  difficult 
field.      Miss    Fannie    R.    Burke   entered   the 
mission  school  in  this  town  in  1881  and  con- 
tinued  for   ten   years.      She   is   making   her 
home  among  the  people  to-day,  though  the 
school    has    been    closed    for    several    years. 
The  bishop  has  ruled  the  town  with  a  rod 
of  iron.     At  one  time  George  Q.  Cannon  re- 
quired all  the  children  to  leave  the  school. 
Miss  Burke  continued  at  her  post  and  rang 
the  bell  regularly  for  three  months  without 
a  pupil.     Finally  they  returned  one  by  one 
and   her   work   went   on.      But   she   suffered 
many  indignities  and  such  bitter  opposition 
that   the   mission    school   was    closed.      Miss 
Burke  has,  however,  remained  and  conducted 
a  Sabbath  school,  having  a  few  pupils.     An 
eff'ort  was  recently  made  to  reopen  the  school 
but  without  success. 

Cedar    City    and    Parowan,    yet    farther 


THE    MORMONS  111 

north,  have  been  imited  as  one  field,  though 
nineteen  miles  apart.  Cedar  City  is  the  most 
important  town  in  southern  Utah,  with  its 
sixteen  hundred  inhabitants  and  its  branch 
of  the  State  Normal  School.  There  are  be- 
tween two  and  three  hundred  young  people 
in  this  institution  and  the  building  has  re- 
cently been  enlarged.  It  will  now  be  able  to 
accommodate  two  hundred  more.  Our  Board 
owns  a  valuable  lot  well  located  near  the  cen- 
tre of  the  town.  Miss  Hartford  opened 
school  here  in  1882,  but  on  account  of  the 
financial  embarrassment  of  the  Board  in 
1885  the  school  was  closed.  It  has  never 
been  reopened.  The  Rev.  T.  L.  Leverett 
spent  three  years,  commencing  in  1894, 
preaching  here  and  at  Parowan;  but,  having 
no  house  of  worship  at  Cedar  City,  nothing 
beyond  a  Sabbath  school  was  brought  into  or- 
ganized form.  Two  years  ago  we  pitched  our 
gospel  tent  in  the  town  and  for  three  wrecks 
scattered  the  word  of  life — preaching  and 
visiting  the  families. 

^Mission  work  was  commenced  at  Parowan 
in  1880.  The  Rev.  W.  C.  Cort  began  re- 
ligious services  in  the  spring  of  that  year, 
having  purchased  property,  and  continued 
until  1884.  The  Rev.  P.  D.  Stoops  took  the 
service  in  1885  and  continued  until  1890. 
He  was  followed  later  by  Mr.  Leverett  but 


112  THE    MORMONS 

for  several  years  there  has  been  no  regular 
preaching.  For  three  summers  we  have  held 
meetings  with  our  gospel  tent.  Out  of  these 
meetings  has  been  organized  a  small  church, 
but  it  has  had  only  such  ministrations  as  the 
Synodical  Missionary  could  give. 

The  mission  work  has  been  carried  on  by 
the  faithful  teachers,  of  whom  we  have  had 
the  goodly  number  of  fourteen.  They  have 
conducted  the  Sabbath  school,  prayer  meet- 
ings, and  Bible  meetings.  One  young  man 
who  came  through  the  mission  school  is  now 
in  McCormick  Seminary  preparing  for  the 
ministry.  Both  Parowan  and  Cedar  City 
have  been  lifted  immensely  above  the  plane 
which  they  occupied  in  1857,  when  their 
church  officials  organized  the  company  that 
committed  the  crime  of  the  Mountain  Mead- 
ows. Christian  missionaries  are  now  per- 
mitted to  do  their  work  in  safety,  and  their 
presence  is  a  constant  check  to  the  immoral- 
ity of  Mormon  communities. 

It  was  in  the  winter  of  1886  and  1887  that 
the  Home  Mission  Board  sent  the  present 
Synodical  Missionary  from  his  work  in  Ken- 
tucky to  assist  our  Utah  missionaries  in  evan- 
gelistic effort.  He  reached  Salt  Lake  City 
the  latter  part  of  November,  and  for  three 
weeks   held   two   meetings   each   day   in   the 


THE    MORMONS  H^ 

First  Church.    Between  twenty-five  and  thir- 
ty  members   were  received  into   the   church. 
Special  meetings  with  two  services  generally 
each    day    were    held    in    the    Westminster 
Church,   in   Ogden,   Brigham,   Payson,   Mt 
Pleasant,  and  Logan.     Those  were  days  of 
excessive  labor,  in  which  a  hundred  and  torty 
sermons    and    Bible    readings    were    given. 
Very  precious  results  followed  this  work.     In 
1888,  by  invitation  of  the  Presbytery  a  visit 
was  made  to  the  meeting  of  that  body  then 
in  session  at  Payson.     A  series  of  nme  lec- 
tures was  given  on  "Bottom  Facts"  (or  Evi- 
dences  of   Christianity).     In  the  spring  of 
1890,  ISIarch  fifteenth,  by  request  of  Presby- 
tery and  agreement  of  the  Board,  permanent 
service  was  entered  upon  as  missionary  in  this 

Synod. 

For  fourteen  years  this  work  has  been 
prosecuted.  There  is  no  room  in  this  booklet 
to  present  the  dealings  of  God  with  us  dur- 
ing those  years.  They  have  been  years  of 
blessed  toil,  high  privilege,  and  constant  oc- 
cupation of  voice  and  pen— to  be  recounted, 
perhaps,  at  some  future  day. 

The  changes  that  have  come  to  Utah  since 
the  coming  of  the  missionaries  may  be  imag- 
ined by  our  eastern  friends,  but  cannot  be 
realized.     While   Mormon  doctrine  has  not 


114  THE    MORMONS 

been  revised  and  cannot  be  without  breaking 
down  the  fabric^  yet  Mormon  practice  has  so 
far  changed  that  the  leaders  of  the  organiza- 
tion are  making  strenuous  effort  to  cover  up 
and  deny  many  of  the  things  that  were 
openly  taught  and  practiced  when  the  mis- 
sionaries first  came  here. 

The  younger  people  are  beginning  to  as- 
sert their  right  to  think  and  speak  their 
thoughts.  A  prominent  gentleman  said  to 
us  lately, 

"I  don't  know  whether  I  am  a  very  good 
Mormon.     I  am  reading  some  things." 

That  is  a  state  of  mind  that  means  much, 
and  is  becoming  somewhat  prevalent.  Hence, 
while  Utah  is  not  being  swept  by  general  re- 
vivals of  religion,  neither  are  large  accessions 
being  made  to  our  churches,  yet  converts  are 
slowly  coming,  one  or  two  from  a  family. 
The  truth  of  the  gospel  is  making  its  way 
down  through  the  fissures  of  this  slowly  open- 
ing system.  In  God's  good  time  it  will  reach 
the  lowest  strata  of  this  obdurate  organiza- 
tion, and  we  or  our  successors  will  see  such 
a  turning  to  God  as  will  reward  his  Church 
for  all  her  toil  and  sacrifice. 

For  more  than  twenty  years  the  ministers 
and  teachers  have  spent  a  week  in  Bible 
study  and  prayer  in  connection  with  the  semi- 
annual meeting  of  Presbytery.     The   result 


THE    MORMONS  115 

is  a  valuable  training  of  our  missionaries  in 
that  Word  which  shall  not  return  unto  Him 
void.  This  Sword  of  the  Spirit,  girded  on 
with  the  harness  of  "all  prayer"  is  yet  to  tri- 
umph— "I  the  Lord  will  hasten  it  in  His 
time." 


CHAPTER    XII 

A  Rod  of  Iron — Abuse  of  E.vrly  ^Iissionaries — 
Influence  of  Our  Schools — Progressive  Pu- 
pils— Westminster  College — From  the  Hay- 
Loft — Mormon  Testdiony  at  Washington — 
Dawning  of  a  New  Light — Time  for  Rein- 
forcement. 

In  the  very  briefest  possible  way  within 
the  limits  allowed  we  have  traced  the  history 
of  home  mission  work  in  Utah.  As  noted, 
our  missionary  labor  began  in  perilous  times. 
Brigham  Young  was  ruling  the  people  with 
a  rod  of  iron.  His  unrestrained  will  was  law. 
He  was  flaunting  his  insults  in  the  face  of 
the  United  States  Government  and  denounc- 
ing her  authorized  officials.  Bishop  John  D. 
Lee  was  walking  at  liberty  in  southern  Utah, 
with  the  blood  of  the  murdered  emigrants  of 
the  Mountain  Meadows  on  his  hands,  giving 
account  of  none  of  his  matters.  Non-Mor- 
mon citizens  were  walking  in  the  middle  of 
the  streets  in  Salt  Lake  City  after  night- 
fall to  avoid  assassination. 

When  our  mission  teachers  came  Apostle 
Taylor  denounced  them  in  the  tabernacle, 
and  the  people  were  warned  against  any  asso- 
116 


Itev.  U.  G.  McXiccv,   D.D. 


THE    MORMONS  117 

ciation  with  them.  Two  young  ladies  were 
sent  to  open  work  at  Filmore.  Soon  after 
reaching  the  place  they  went  to  the  Mor- 
mon meeting  on  a  Sabbath.  After  the  bishop 
had  finished  his  discourse  he  said, 

"I  will  not  close  this  meeting  till  I  have 
dressed  down  the  Presbyterian  missionaries." 

He  then  informed  the  congregation  that 
the  missionaries  were  vile  characters  sent  out 
to  corrupt  and  destroy  the  young  men. 

It  was  under  such  conditions  as  these,  and 
with  such  receptions  of  our  missionaries  as 
were  seldom  met  even  on  the  foreign  field, 
that  our  first  toilers  began  their  labor. 

That  day  has  passed.  The  consecration 
of  our  missionaries,  men  and  women,  their 
courage  and  fidelity,  with  God's  blessing,  have 
transformed  all  our  environments.  Not  that 
we  have  already  attained,  nor  that  we  have 
reached  conditions  such  as  we  desire  and  ex- 
pect, but  in  important  respects  we  have  a  new 
Utah  to-day. 

As  already  noted,  our  mission  schools  be- 
came the  germ  of  the  public  school  system 
which  is  now  stimulating  the  young  people  of 
Utah.  Our  own  mission  movements  grew 
from  the  beginning.  Station  after  station 
was  opened,  church  after  church  was  organ- 
ized. We  have  had  over  twenty-three  hun- 
dred  pupils   in   our   mission   schools   at   one 


118  THE    MORMONS 

time.  They  have  done  their  work  with  the 
Bible  in  their  hands.  They  have  been  led 
out  of  darkness  into  light.  Travelling  with 
a  young  man  some  years  ago,  he  said, 

"My  wife  was  educated  at  Mt.  Pleasant, 
and  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  your  mission- 
aries. I  would  give  anything  if  I  could  have 
had  such  privileges." 

Holding  a  meeting  in  a  neglected  mining 
town  in  Wyoming,  and  visiting  from  house 
to  house,  a  young  wife  greeted  me  cordially, 
telling  me  what  the  mission  school  in  Utah 
had  done  for  her.  All  over  Utah  and  adjoin- 
ing States  we  are  finding  homes  that  carry 
the  light  which  was  kindled  in  our  mission 
schools.  From  one  of  our  schools  that  has 
been  closed  for  many  years,  comes  the  state- 
ment that  there  were  twenty  pupils  who, 
having  asjDired  to  a  higher  and  better  knowl- 
edge of  life,  have  had  varying  degrees  of 
success.  Seven  of  these  became  church  mem- 
bers. Six  entered  eastern  colleges.  Three 
have  been  appointed  to  Utah  mission  fields. 

Our  thirty-three  mission  schools  which  have 
been  ojDened  at  one  time  and  another  since 
the  work  began,  with  our  four  academies, 
now  doing  full  and  effective  work,  have  ex- 
erted an  influence  for  the  betterment  of  social 
and  spiritual  life  in  Utah  that  cannot  be 
measured.     They  have  furnished  us  some  of 


THE    MORMONS  119 

our  best  mission  teachers,  and  sent  others  into 
the  public  schools,  and  are  giving  us  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel.  They  have  created  a  de- 
mand for,  and  at  length  have  secured,  the 
Westminster  College,  founded  by  Dr.  Shel- 
don Jackson,  which  is  to  be  the  crown  of  our 
noble  Christian  educational  work  in  Utah. 

From  the  little   company   of   believers   in 
that  hay  loft,  in  those  trying  times  thirty- 
three   years    ago,    God    has    given   us    three 
Presbyterian     churches     in     this     city,     and 
twenty-two  beyond.     From  Logan  in  north- 
ern Utah,  these  churches  extend  in  one  line 
of  light,  almost  to  the  southern  border  of  the 
State.     God  has  been  answering  prayer  all 
these  years,  giving  us  souls,  and  bringing  to 
naught  the  counsel  of  the  wicked.     Some  of 
the    events    that   have   threatened   our   work 
have  turned  out  for  the  furtherance  of  the 
gospel.      Not    the    least    of    these    was    the 
thrusting   of   the   Mormon   apostle   into   the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.     This  was  to 
our  shame  and  dismay,  but  has  proved  to  our 
nation  an  education  for  which  we  had  long 
toiled  but  failed  to  secure. 

On  the  testimony  of  the  President  of  the 
Mormon  Church,  and  one  of  his  apostles, 
the  nation  learns  that  these  men  have  dis- 
obeyed God  and  the  laws  of  their  own  State, 
and  publicly  declare  that  they  purpose  to  con- 


120  THE    MORMONS 

tinue  this  flagrant  rebellion  against  God  and 
man.  Senator  Hoar,  in  questioning  Apostle 
Lyman,  said, 

"You  confess  that  you  are  now  living,  and 
expect  to  live  in  disobedience  to  the  law  of 
the  country,  the  law  of  your  church,  and  the 
law  of  God?'* 

To  this  question  the  apostle  replied, 

"Yes." 

He  testified  as  to  when  a  revelation  is 
to  be  obeyed — only  when  it  is  the  wish  of  the 
people.  It  is  never  a  revelation  till  the  people 
consent  that  it  shall  be. 

It  was  as  important  that  these  facts 
should  be  known  by  the  people  of  the  Mor- 
mon Church  as  by  the  Government.  The 
facts  have  produced  a  sensation  in  Utah. 
Many  of  the  people  had  honestly  believed 
that  these  revelations  came  straight  from 
heaven,  and  that  neither  the  authorities  of  the 
Church,  nor  the  people  dared  modify  or  dis- 
obey them.  A  new  light  has  da^vned  upon 
the  plain,  honest  Mormon  people.  If  they  are 
able  to  receive  the  logic  of  the  position  taken 
by  President  Smith  and  Apostle  Lyman, 
it  must  shatter  the  false  teaching  of  the  doc- 
trine of  continuous  revelation.  When  that  is 
broken  down,  and  these  witnesses  have  log- 
ically accomplished  that  much,  the  system 
will  have  nothing  left.     We  may  yet  expect 


THE    MORMONS  121 

the  people  to  be  liberated  from  the  bondage 
of  seventy  years  of  superstition. 

Hence  now  is  the  "set  time"  to  re-enforce 
our  home  mission  work  with  men  and  their 
support.  It  is  time  for  our  whole  Church  to 
appreciate  the  long,  arduous,  and  blessed  toil 
of  her  missionaries,  and  to  understand  that 
the  Mormon  hierarchy  has  been  blindly  led 
to  make  such  a  breach  in  their  supposed  im- 
pregnable walls  as  can  never  be  repaired. 

"A  better  day  is  coming, 

A  morning  promised  long, 
When  girded  Right,  with  holy  Might 

Shall  overthrow  the  ^Yrong; 
"When  God  the  Lord  will  listen 

To  every  plaintive  sigh, 
And  stretch  His  hand  o'er  every  land 

With  justice  by  and  by. 

"Oh !  for  that  holy  dawning 

We  watch,  and  wait,  and  pray. 
Till  o'er  the  height  the  morning  light 

Shall  drive  the  gloom  aw'ay; 
And  when  the  heavenly  glory 

Shall  flood  the  earth  and  sky. 
We'll  bless  the  Lord  for  all  His  word 

And  praise  Him  by  and  by." 


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IN  U.  S.  A. 

